Former Australia opener David Warner has asked Cricket Australia (CA) to elucidate what happened when the umpires changed the ball during India A's first unofficial Test against Australia A.

Warner felt CA "squashed" the matter "as quickly as possible." The matter came to light on the final day of the four-day game in Mackay last week, when the umpires gave a different ball to the Indian players at the start of play.

The Indian players were not one bit pleased by the decision. In fact, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan termed it as “a very stupid decision.”

"I think the ultimate decision's with CA, isn't it? I think they've obviously squashed it as fast as they could, given that India's coming out here this summer," Warner was quoted as saying by the 'Sydney Morning Herald'.

“But if the umpires deem that something happened, then I'm sure there'll be a follow-up and I think the umpires or the match referee should be standing here answering those questions.”

“I think the match referee should be coming out and addressing his own staff, who are the umpires, and if they're sticking by the umpire's decisions, then you've got to stand up for that. I think that's obviously a statement that CA probably needs to release,” he added.

On Day 4 of the unofficial Test, the stump mic caught umpire Shawn Craig as saying, “You scratch it, we change the ball. There will be no more discussion, let's play. This is not a discussion, you will be playing with that ball.”

Kishan retorted: "So we are going to play with this ball…that's a very stupid decision."

After the end of the game, CA issued a statement saying, “The ball used in the fourth innings of the match was changed due to deterioration. Both teams' captain and manager were informed of the decision prior to the start of play. No further action is being taken.”

As per the laws of cricket, a five-run penalty is imposed if the umpires decide to change the ball after determining it has been unfairly altered.

However, Australia A were not awarded five penalty runs as CA's playing conditions include an additional clause that allows the umpires to change the ball without applying penalty runs if the reason behind its damage is unclear.

(With PTI Inputs)