Lift stops play - Boxing Day Test held up after umpire Richard Illingworth gets stuck in an elevator

Rain, darkness, general bad weather - all regular reasons for delays at cricket matches. But have you heard the one about an umpire being stuck in a lift?

That was the situation third umpire Richard Illingworth found himself in after lunch on day three of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which led to the afternoon session being held up by six minutes.

David Warner could barely contain his laughter when he found out the reason for the delay, with players and officials on the field ready to resume after the interval.

The crowd inside the iconic venue had little idea of what was going on, but the situation amused former England captain Michael Vaughan in the Fox Sports commentary box, with coverage also live on TNT Sports.

“I know the lift. I know exactly which one. It’s a slow lift. It could be a while here,” he said, before joking; “Clearly the lunch was pretty good, because he had a lot of it.”

Reserve umpire Phillip Gillespie was seen rushing up to the position, but eventually Illingworth took his spot in the box and play resumed.

‘Sorry’ said a post from the MCG, following a post on X which showed an empty viewing area.

On the field, Pakistan resumed at the start of play on 194-6 in their first innings and only managed to add 70 to their score, leaving them 54 runs behind their hosts’ opening knock of 318.

Australia captain Pat Cummins completed a five wicket haul, removing Muhammad Rizwan and Hassan Ali, with Nathan Lyon picking up two more victims to end with figures of 4-73.

But Australia had a nightmare start to their second innings, with Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner and Travis Head all falling inside the first six overs to leave the home side struggling on 16-4, with both Khawaja and Head failing to score.

Mitchell Marsh led the recovery but fell short of a century, as Mir Hamza ended a fine knock at 96 from 130 balls. Steve Smith stayed with him in a more attritional and patient support role, attempting to tire the Pakistan bowlers, before his resistance was ended by Shaheen Afridi, who stopped the talisman on 50, having faced 176 deliveries.

That brought a close to play on day three, with Australia still in a decent position in the match. The hosts will resume on 187 for 6, leading their visitors by 241 runs.

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