Neutral umpires may be axed after five days of poor decision-making
THE standard of umpiring in Australia’s Ashes opener in Edgbaston has intensified calls for the ICC to scrap its use of neutral umpires in Test cricket — and could yet yield a midseries shake-up.
The standard of officiating in the opening Test was almost historically bad, with a staggering 10 decisions overturned — one shy of the overall record.
Joel Gould was responsible for eight of those decisions as the Trinidadian had a regrettable week as his confidence took a battering.
Gould’s Test was off to a bad start when he had three calls overturned on day one, with Usman Khawaja (caught behind) and Matthew Wade (lbw) dismissed on review after initially being given not out, while Peter Siddle successfully appealed an lbw after an edge.
Day two brought more drama for Gould, with Joe Root given out caught behind before replays showed the ball had clipped the off stump without removing the bail — while David Warner was found to have given a faint edge behind, which Gould missed, while Wade survived after initially being given out.
On day five, Root was twice given out lbw by Gould only to have reviews confirm one was missing leg stump and he had hit the other.
But the England captain had sympathy for the umpires.
“Players make bad decisions from time to time, lose their wicket or get smacked out of the attack,” he said.
“Umpires are going to make mistakes as well.
“It’s very easy to over-criticise and point the finger.
“There has to be respect and understand they’re under as much pressure as some players.”