Australia might have played some impressive cricket in the ongoing Ashes series but their use of the Decision Review System (DRS) has been nothing short of woeful.

Skipper Tim Paine, who is among the all-time worst users of DRS, hasn’t got a review right in the first three Tests of the Ashes 2019 thus far. He has taken nine reviews but was at the wrong end on each occasion.

Out of the 20 captains with more than 30 reviews since the system was introduced in 2009, Paine is ranked 19th for correct usage.

According to BBC statistician Andrew Samson and reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, Paine’s reviews have been wrong 87.10 per cent (27/31) of the time.

In contrast, Tim Paine’s counterpart, Joe Root is the best user of the technology. The England captain is ranked at the top, having incorrectly reviewed 69.39 per cent (68/98) of the time. He has missed 9 of his 15 reviews in the ongoing Ashes series.

While using the reviews sensibly has always been considered important, the consequence of wasting one has arguably never been more tangible than what it was at Headingley.

When England needed 2 to win with 1 wicket left in the tank, Nathan Lyon struck Ben Stokes on the pad but his appeal for leg before wicket was rejected by umpire Joel Wilson. Unfortunately, the tourists couldn’t take the review as skipper Paine exhausted it an over earlier on Jack Leach.

In the very next over, Stokes hit the winning boundary off Pat Cummins and levelled the Ashes 1-1.

(Inputs from Fox Sports)