Umpires Joel Wilson and Kumar Dharmasena must be investigated for the role they played in the scandalous ball change in the fifth Ashes Test between Australia and England.
That is according to former Australian captain Ricky Ponting.
England requested a ball change late on Day 4 when the older ball had gone out of shape after a Mark Wood bouncer had hit Usman Khawaja on the helmet.
Umpires Wilson and Dharmasena handed the English a much newer Dukes ball to replace the fading older ball and it had an immediate impact on the morning of Day 5 at The Oval.
RIDICULOUS BALL CHANGE CAUSES UPROAR AS ENGLAND TAKE CONTROL
The ball was swinging an seaming around, particularly for Chris Woakes, causing the likes of David Warner, Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne plenty of issues as the Aussies attempted to chase down 384.
Ponting believes there needs to be an investigation after the unfathomable decision by the match officials.
“At the end of the day if you are going to change the ball you want to make sure you get it right, as close as you possibly can to the one that you’re changing it from,” Ponting said on Channel 9’s coverage.
“If you have a look in that box, there weren’t too many older conditioned balls in there. There were some older ones that were picked, the umpires looked at them and threw them back.
“I just cannot fathom how two international umpires, that have done that a lot of times before, can actually get that so wrong. That is a huge moment in this game, potentially huge moment in the Test match and something that I think actually has to be investigated.”
Commentator and former Australian bowler Trent Copeland was also in disbelief.
He made it clear that this is not an issue with England - who didn’t make the decision - but the umpires involved.
“If the ball is out of shape it doesn’t swing, it doesn’t seam as you want it to as a bowler,” Copeland said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“It’s hugely detrimental to what you’re trying to achieve.
“I want to make one really clear distinction - this has nothing to do with England. It happens hundreds of times in all forms of cricket.
“Ricky Ponting’s point was, was there not the quality of ball through all lifespans in the box to choose from so that’s as close to like for like as possible. Then after that are the umpires comfortable to say, ‘that was the closest ball we had to that cricket ball we were using the night before’. They’re the questions.
“I don’t have an issue with England at all in this moment. People are talking spirit of cricket. No thanks in the regard.”
🙃 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/KiU0TRSsHk
— Trent Copeland (@copes9) July 31, 2023
Another former Aussie captain, Tim Paine, could not work out why and how that particular replacement ball was chosen.
“You don’t want to be whinging about it and the English still bowled exceptionally well and exploited what they were given,” Paine said on SENQ Breakfast.
“But geez, you’ve got to be asking some questions of Joel Wilson and Kumar Dharmasena. Kumar in particular is a world-class umpire and has been for a long time.
“For two really experienced umpires to bring that ball out I thought was staggering. We can see it through the TV screen the difference in the balls. How have they not picked up on that when they’ve got it in their hand?
“I found it bizarre.”
For the record, Australia failed in its run chase after Travis Head and Steve Smith pushed the team to 4-264.
The Aussies lost 7-70 to be all out for 334 as Woakes took 4-50, handing England a 49-run win to draw the series 2-2.
However, Australia retained the urn.