There has been no dearth of controversy in the ongoing Ashes series. The fresh row has erupted following the umpires’ decision to change the ball on Day 4 of the fifth Test at The Oval.
The incident took place during the 37th over of Australia’s second innings when Usman Khawaja was hit on the helmet by a delivery from England pacer Mark Wood. The impact was so severe that it reportedly altered the shape of the red cherry, prompting the umpires to replace it.
This decision triggered a debate and speculation among cricket fans and experts alike. Australian legend Ricky Ponting called it a blunder and demanded a proper investigation.
"The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball that was chosen to replace the one [that had gone out of shape]," Ponting said on Sky Sports. "There's no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way are they comparable.
"At the end of the day, if you are going to change the ball, you want to make sure that you get it right, so [you make it] as close as you possibly can to the one that you're changing it from. Now if you have a look in that box, there weren't too many older-condition balls in there. There were some older ones that were picked up, the umpires looked at that and threw them back.
"I just cannot fathom how two international umpires that have done that a lot of times before can get that so wrong. That is a huge moment in this game, potentially a huge moment in the Test match, and something I think actually has to be investigated: whether there was the right condition of balls in the box, or the umpires have just, blasé, picked one out of there that they think will be okay to use."
The Dukes ball wasn’t swinging for England pacers on the penultimate day. As a result, Aussie openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner didn’t only survive the new-ball burst but also scored runs fluently to take the tourists to 135/0 in the chase of 384 before rain forced a premature end to Day 4.
However, English fast bowlers made the most of the unexpected ball change in the morning session on Day 5, with Australia losing three wickets in quick succession.
"The conditions were perfect for bowling this morning, let's say that," Ponting said. "The conditions were better for bowling this morning. But what I saw last night, that ball there, I'll put my hand up and say I've got absolutely no doubt at all that that ball would not have done anywhere near as much as what that one did this morning.
"Double the amount of movement this morning from yesterday afternoon, seam movement and swing. I think it's a huge blunder that needs to be investigated."
Australia were 238/3 at lunch with Smith (40*) and Travis Head (31*) unbeaten in the middle. The visitors need 146 more runs to clinch the Ashes 3-1, with rain threatening to play spoilsport.
