London: At the start of day five's lunch break, England thought they had Steve Smith's wicket, but the batter was declared not out.

When the incident occurred, Smith was batting at 39 and Moeen Ali was bowling the 66th over. Ben Stokes at leg gully appeared to have caught Ali's loopy delivery after it appeared to have taken Smith's glove. Stokes reviewed the call after umpire Joel Wilson ruled it to be not out.

The catch was initially made cleanly by Stokes at leg gully, jumping and extending his right arm at full stretch.

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The replays confirmed that the ball had in fact flicked Smith's gloves as he attempted to defend.

However, as Stokes went to celebrate, he would strike his thigh and the ball would fly out of his hands and land on the ground.

Out or not out? ????‍♂️ #EnglandCricket| #Ashes pic.twitter.com/q2XCJuUpxM

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 31, 2023

Stokes' head dropping right away during the replays appeared to indicate that he knew it wasn't a clean catch, but the England captain chose to go upstairs.

Smith was declared not out following numerous replays because the catch did not appear to be clean in accordance with MCC law 33.3.

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The law states, "The act of making a catch shall start from the time when the ball first comes into contact with a fielder's person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement." 

Similar to Mitchell Starc's catch of Ben Duckett at Lord's, but with more clarity. Smith was able to survive as Australia went to lunch three runs behind and needing 146 more runs to win.

The commentators on air also likened it to the Starc incident, with Mel Jones saying, "It was clean by Ben Stokes. And in the celebrations, the hand has come down and hit his thigh. The ball has been dislodged and it has been adjudged that he was not in control."

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