Boxing Day Test delayed as third umpire trapped in the lift leaving Australian batters, Pakistan team stranded on the MCG

The Boxing Day Test has bizarrely been delayed leaving the crowd watching on without any idea about the reason behind the hold-up

Play at the MCG was about to resume after the lunch break when third umpire Richard Illingworth got stuck in an elevator.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Australia’s Steve Smith and David Warner along with the on-field umpires and the Pakistan side stood waiting for the lift to be fixed.

Fourth umpire Phil Gillespie was rushed up to the video umpire’s box and play resumed about five minutes later.

During the break, the commentators were left to awkwardly explain the bizarre stoppage by trying to find the lighter side.

“Do you reckon cricket is the number one sport that has stoppages for the most bizarre things?” said Michael Vaughan on Fox Cricket.

“We’ve got a stoppage here because the third umpire is stuck in a lift. You’ve got your two umpires ready to go in the middle, your Pakistan team ready to go, the two batters out there ready to play.

“Everything is ready to go and we have got a third umpire stuck in a lift.”

Wasim Akram said he had “never seen anything like this before” while the MCG posted on X, “sorry”.

Once the umpire was spotted back in the box Cricket.com.au posted on X: “A wild Richard Illingworth appeared!”

Fans watching on at home had a field day on social media laughing at the situation.

“What could have been the weirdest reason for delay? Oh yes, the third umpire is stuck in the lift,” one fan wrote with some laughing emojis.

“He used the stairs… it was super effective!” added another.

A third said: “Move it to WA. You can’t even have lifts that work.”

The match had already been delayed at the start of the day because of some light drizzle and the commentators were criticising the players for taking extra breaks during play leading to over rate issues.

If teams fail to bowl the required 90 overs in the day they can have their match fees or World Test Championship points deducted.