Damien Martyn slams Aleem Dar for 'worst' ever umpiring during Ashes 2005

Aleem Dar is often considered to be one of the safest umpires in international cricket.

Dar wrongly adjudged Simon Katich out off Steve Harmison delivery | Getty Images

The 2005 Ashes series between Australia and England is undoubtedly considered as the greatest Test series of all time, but former Australian batsman Damien Martyn believes that it was also the series that saw the worst umpiring in the history of the game of cricket.

Well, the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shot down all the sporting activities across the globe, which saw several sports fraternity becoming quite active on social media.

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Recently, a Twitter user reminded the Ashes fans of a shocker from the historic series by sharing a video of Aleem Dar’s umpiring error during the epic 2005 Ashes series where he wrongly adjudged Australian batsman Simon Katich out to bring the matter out into the light once again.

The video shows Katich is struck on the pads off a delivery from Harmison. Later, the England fast bowler appealed for an LBW shout and Dar didn’t take long to surprise many by raising his finger, given the Aussie left-hander out.

However, the replay of the delivery clearly showed that the ball was pitched outside leg and was even missing the stumps.

Reacting to the Twitter post, Katich’s former Australian teammate Martyn has on Monday lashed out at Dar for his shocking decision, calling it the "worst umpiring series in history".

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Have a look here:

Noteworthy, Martyn, who played 67 Tests, 208 ODIs, and 4 T20Is for Australia, was the victim of umpiring errors at least twice during the Ashes in 2005 – which was eventually won (Five-Test series 2-1) by the Michael Vaughan-led England side at home.

Martyn was also asked about the Steve Bucknor wrong decisions against India during the 2008 Sydney Test and he replied: “Yes he was terrible as well. This is not about Australia it was about the umpires... Just saying.”

 

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 08 Apr, 2020

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