In cricket lingo, it is called the “howler” — a shocking umpiring decision that cannot be explained and usually provokes waves of criticism from one side.
It takes a really bad howler to unite critics from England and Australia, particularly when it involves Ashes contests that have featured plenty of controversy across about 130 years.
Usman Khawaja, if you note the reaction in Australia, seems to have been the victim of one of the worst howlers in history. The overwhelming majority of people — from the prime minister down — were scathing of the decision, which meant Australia’s No. 3 batsman was dismissed, caught behind, for one in the third Test in Manchester overnight.
Photo: AFP
One of cricket’s oldest laws — that the umpire’s decision is final — has been eroded in the last decade or so by technology which allows limited numbers of decisions to be referred to a third umpire, who has access to video replays and other technology. And that is what is causing the issue.
Cricket Australia is asking the International Cricket Council to explain why third umpire Kumar Dharmasena upheld an on-field call at Old Trafford, despite replay technology indicating that Khawaja’s bat made no contact with the ball — the “edge” being the essential ingredient for a caught-behind decision.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tweeted almost immediately: “That was one of the worst cricket umpiring decisions I have ever seen.”
Yesterday, Rudd replied to a direct tweet suggesting that Australia recall its “ambassador” from London and declare a republic instead of its current constitutional monarchy with Britain.
“That may be a little extreme. The recall that is. But what a bad decision!” Rudd replied.
Australian spin bowling great Shane Warne, working as a TV commentator at Old Trafford, said he was shocked that Dharmasena upheld on-field umpire Tony Hill’s initial decision to give Khawaja out.
“I can’t believe that,” Warne said, several times. “It’s just a staggering decision. The technology has shown clearly that there was enough evidence to overturn a mistake. There was no hot spot, there was no noise, so you just expect that [to be] given not out. That’s a shocker, that’s an absolute shocking decision.”
His commentary partner Ian Botham, who caused plenty of pain for Australians by helping England win some classic Ashes contests in the 1980s, agreed entirely.
Botham said it was clear to a commentary box stacked with former England captains that Khawaja was not out.
In Australia, where almost 1 million TVs were tuned in to the broadcasts from Old Trafford, Fox Sports commentators and former players Brendon Julian, Greg Blewett and Damien Fleming were outraged. Blewett said he had to be careful what he said in case he used a profanity on television.
As the hashtag “disgrace” trended on Twitter, former England captain Michael Vaughan added: “Feel for a young player who is trying to make his way in the game ... Really poor decision.”
Another former England captain, Alec Stewart, added: “That is a ridiculous decision by both the on & off field umpires. DRS creating yet more controversy. Any wonder players don’t walk!”
The DRS — an acronym for Decision Review System — enables the third umpire to review on-field decisions at the request of either the on-field umpires or the teams on the field. For caught decisions, it uses a combination of visual replays, thermal imaging and audio technology to determine if there was contact between bat and ball.
Despite all three technologies indicating there was no contact between bat and ball, the third umpire still upheld Hill’s initial on-field decision to give Khawaja out.
The Daily Telegraph in Sydney called the decision a “fiasco,” the Australian newspaper said the DRS has become the “third competitor in the Ashes series,” while the Sydney Morning Herald said the Khawaja call was the “howler of all howlers.”
Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh called for the officials to be fired.
“That is the most disgraceful decision I’ve ever seen. What an absolute joke. Put that down to human error — no fault of DRS,” Marsh said. “The bit people are missing is that technology gave the umpires all they needed to overturn that. Complete incompetence. Jobs should be lost.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care