Incredible Aussie cricket photo goes viral as batter has the luckiest escape in the history of the sport

Grade cricket can often throw up some unusual scenes but one Melbourne batsman could barely believe his luck when umpires declared he was not out despite being bowled middle stump.

An image taken after the delivery shows the stumps with leg and off still standing and both bails appearing to be stuck together and unbroken while the middle stump lies at a 45-degree angle.

The incident occurred in an ACT third-grade competition as Western District played Ginninderra at Canberra's Reid Oval on Saturday.

Ginninderra bowler Andy Reynolds had seemingly bowled out Western District Tigers opener Matthew Bosustow, with the ball striking the middle stump. 

However, the bails remained undisturbed, leading to plenty of confusion.

Bosustow had started to leave the pitch, only to realise he might not be out after all.

Following a discussion among the umpires and a review of the rules, it was decided that Bosustow was not out. 

According to the Laws of Cricket maintained by the Marylebone Cricket Club, for a batter to be dismissed, either the bails must be completely removed or a stump must be fully uprooted from the ground.

Wests captain Sam Wightman wasn't impressed at the time.

'I've never seen that happen before,' he said. 

While Bosustow was spared for the moment, his reprieve was short-lived as he was dismissed a few overs later. 

'No one has seen it happen. We all found it pretty funny afterwards. At the time we were happy to take the wicket, then we weren't so happy the batsman had to come back. We got him not long after, which made me happier,' Wightman said.

While the decision was the correct one, many cricket fans brought up the Spirit of Cricket argument that raged during The Ashes this year, saying the batsman should have walked.

'Those are the rules. But its the decision of the batsman to dislodge the bails and walk or stay and hit a century. Decisions decisions. Love the game. What would you do?' asked one fan. 

'I think I'd hit the stumps with my bat and walk off,' replied another.

'You'd walk, surely?' asked a third. 

But plenty said the batsman had every right to stand his ground.

'I think the cricket gods thought he deserved another shot. Who is anyone to argue with that?' replied one cricket fan.

The peculiar incident quickly spread across social media, garnering international attention and over a million views on the 'ThatsSoVillage' Twitter account.

Despite the perplexing play, Western District emerged victorious in the match. The Lions scored 6-136 and restricted Ginninderra to 9-96 in the rain-affected game.

Reynolds, despite his uncanny bowling incident, ended the day without a wicket. His teammate Cam Barnett, however, managed to claim 4-29