Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes admitted Worcestershire Rapids had followed the example of Indian keeper MS Dhoni after Ben Cox took off his gloves and pads and fielded at fly slip for part of the NatWest T20 Blast clash with Northamptonshire Steelbacks.
Cox took up the position for the 16th and 18th overs bowed by spinners Moeen Ali and Saeed Ajmal respectively during Worcestershire's 14 run win this evening at Wantage Road.
Umpires Nick Cook and Graham Lloyd conferred at length and allowed play to continue.
Rhodes said: "It is a tactic that is possible to use if you look into the rules. It is something we looked into last year and in a game when you're trying to stop the opposition scoring the runs you've made, which is what cricket is all about, it's a legitimate tactic.
"One of the things I challenged the coaches in the winter to do, was to try and come up with some ideas as to what can happen in cricket, what is allowed in cricket, things that might just knock the opposition off their guard a little bit.
"It came about when I watched MS Dhoni stand back to the spinner for India and I thought that was a great idea.
"Afterwards, he said he wanted another catcher around the corner and he felt he could do that himself, standing back. That's how it started us thinking about what we could do."
Northamptonshire's Josh Cobb, who was batting at the time, said: "I saw Daryl Mitchell tell Ben Cox to go back and I thought he was going to keep from the edge of the ring.
"Then I turned around and saw him without pads or gloves on. It's in the laws and they've obviously looked into it and there's no law against it."
