Australia were 147/2 when bad light stopped play on day one.
Australia was sailing along at 1 for 130 when Labuschagne edged Marco Jansen low to the second slip. Harmer held onto the low catch but Labuschagne didn’t budge. On-field umpires Chris Gaffaney and Paul Reiffel discussed the issue and sent the decision upstairs with the soft signal being out.
Multiple replays were shown to the third umpire, which obfuscated the matter. The ball lands on the fingertips, the middle finger bends on impact and the question arose if the ball touched the ground in the process.
TV umpire Richard Kettleborough saw multiple replays from different angles and finally ruled the catch void and decided that Labuschagne was not out.
Faf du Plessis and Albie Morkel along with Aakash Chopra shared their thoughts on the controversy.
Former ICC umpire Simon Taufel explained the rationale behind Marnus surviving the catch and why the soft signal isn’t as sacrosanct as before.
“The ICC did tweak its third umpire protocols in this area last year, where the soft signal in this particular case with a fair catch would carry less weight, only if the TV replays were inconclusive or poor, or non-existent,” Taufel said.
“So, Richard really had a tough job with that one, particularly because of the camber of the ground slopes away. Obviously, Richard felt that the ball hit the ground before getting into their hands. It’s a tough call.
That’s where the foreshortening of the lens really becomes a little bit deceptive when you look at it front-on. I think that’s why Richard started with that side-on shot to start with because it looks like the ball is dipping down, but sometimes you’ll get that half-frame in between the ball dipping down and the ball going up, and that’s why the side-on shot is sometimes the better one for the third umpire to look at, but I can understand why South Africa might feel a bit hard done by there,” the former umpire added.
Former Australian cricketers Mark Waugh and Michael Hussey, on Fox Cricket, talked about the catch.
Hussey told Fox Cricket: “I feel as though the South Africans can be quite aggrieved here. The soft signal was out. I felt like the ball landed on the fingers and he was able to scoop it up. His fingers are down, it hits the top of the fingers, pushed it back. I don’t think there’s conclusive evidence there to overturn that decision. That’s just my opinion,”
“That could go either way, let’s be honest. It was tough to tell. I thought front-on it probably looked out, but side-on there was enough doubt there,” said Mark Waugh on Fox. “They could count themselves a little unlucky the South Africans. Live it looks okay, that catch. They often do live … that’s probably why Paul Reiffel gave the soft signal as out. I think it’s a real 50-50 call,” Mark Waugh said.
Former Australian captain Adam Gilchrist sided with the South Africans. “I’m not convinced I’ve seen that, with certainty, can turn that decision around the other way.”
Australia were 147/2 in 47 overs as bad light ended the play on day one in Sydney.