Australian batsman Usman Khawaja was unimpressed by what happened at the Oval on the penultimate and final days of Ashes Test 5 . /Paul Childs
Ousmane Khawaja, who opened for Australia, lamented a 'disappointing' ball change that provoked a backlash from England on the last morning of a series in which the hosts won at the Oval.
Australia needed just 249 for the win when play began on the fifth day, but she lost three early wickets. Successful bowlers Chris Wookes and Mark Wood benefited from a more pronounced move than on the fourth day.
This may have been due to the change of the ball on the evening of the fourth day, just before the rain brought early close to play. Wood hit Khawaji's helmet, resulting in a ball change.
The fourth official, David Millns, brought in a box of balls from which one was selected. Television footage showed that the replacement ball was newer than the old ball, which had been used nearly 40 times. Some pundits were baffled that the ball didn't seem to be the age of the one it would replace.
«I walked right up to Kumar [Dharmasena, referee] and immediately said, 'This ball is not at all similar to the one we played. I can see what it says on it,” Khawaja told cricket.com.au after an afternoon game.
«It was harder than any ball I've played with in this series of Ashes — and I opened every time hitting a new ball.
«I said: «I don't know what's going on — you went from an old, reversed [rocking] ball to a brand new ball.»
«Personally, I think if there's nothing else in the box that can match the ball you have, you can't change it.< /p>
“It's a little disappointing when we hit the ball because we worked the backsides for 36 overs and then they changed the ball. .
«As a rookie, you work so hard to get in there and then hit the new ball again.
«That ball had 95 overs and was still bouncing and bouncing into the hoop.
“Unfortunately, in cricket, this hand is sometimes dealt. It may seem unfair, but… I hope the ICC learns from this and tries to look at this ball to change the process. >The referees choose a replacement ball after Mark Wood's ball hit Khawaja's helmet. Photo: Sky SportsTV footage showed the difference between the two balls. Photo: Sky Sports
England worked hard to find a backswing, scratching one side of the ball with their baubles, driving it into the wicket. They hardly moved with the old ball.
That changed with the introduction of the new ball: Australian journalist Louis Cameron reported that batsmen had a 16 percent miss and false throw rate before the ball change, rising to 38 percent in the 10 overs immediately after. This included the wickets of David Warner and Khawaja at Wookes, but not Wood's sacking of Marnus Labouchagne.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting led the chorus of voices from broadcasters questioning the ball change.
>« It sure looks a lot newer than the one they replaced,” Ponting told Sky.
“Look at the amount of writing on the side of this balloon…it's a huge contrast to the conditions. of two Duke balloons.
“It's the exact opposite of what we saw yesterday at the bowling alley.
“It must be the change of ball. Absolutely nothing happened. Australia dominated. Quite different this morning, that's for sure.»
During lunch break, Ponting doubled down on his position, calling the incident a «gross mistake» that needs to be investigated.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain admitted that the situation was «very strange», stating that the ball change was «crazy».
'Shame': how Australian media reacted to Ashes final test loss 'by Ballgate'
By Telegraph Sport
Ballgate dominated Australian press coverage following England's victory in the fifth Ash Test at the Oval.
The change of ball shortly before the rain stopped play on the fourth day, when first players David Warner and Usman Khawaja were in good spirits, caused a fair amount of outrage among Australian journalists and experts.
The Daily Telegraph in Australia called the ball change «disgraceful» and Peter Lalor in The Australian questioned whether Australia was worth winning the referee's «blunder» series, stating that the change «seemed to change the game» and argued that it » cost visitors dearly.»
And the Sydney Morning Herald quoted former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Sky Sports as calling it «a huge mistake that needs to be investigated.»
He said: «More what worries me the most is the large discrepancy in the condition of the ball chosen to replace it.
“There is no way you can even look at these two balls and say that they are in any way comparable.
“This is an important moment in this game, a potentially important moment in the Test. correspond. And I think something needs to be investigated.
“I'll raise my hand and say that I have no doubt that the [old] ball wouldn't have done nearly as much as it did this morning.
But Daniel Brettig, writing under the same title, argued that Ballgate was not to blame for Australia's defeat.
He said, «It might be tempting to use a conspiracy lens on a replacement ball.
«But the truth behind The Oval, and indeed the second half of this Ashes series, is that Australia too often found themselves in a position where they had to perform miracles to get ahead of the game.
“It will be a source of serious disappointment that a mature and balanced team could not achieve a single result sufficient to win one of the last three tests.”
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