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| Photo: espncricinfo.com |
The headline above is
not an allegation, it’s only an observation based on hard facts. However, this
observation reflects badly on the umpiring standards in the biggest cricket
event of the world. We had recently seen
ludicrous umpiring errors in Indian Premiere League-2019. ICC Cricket World Cup
can hardly be compared with the former, and we fervently hope that standards
would improve as this was just the first week of the tournament.
It all happened in the
10th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup-2019 at Trent Bridge,
England between Australia and West Indies. Winning the toss West Indies put
Australia into bat, reduced them to 79 for 5 thanks to fiery spells by Thomas
and Cortrell that reminded us of the likes of Malcolm Marshall & Co of
yore, and as was their wont, West Indies let go allowing the Aussies to amass
288. Still, it was not an impossible target, and West Indies seemed to be
cruising nicely with Hope and Heitmyer going great guns. Again, as Caribbean
old habits die hard, the batsmen snatched defeat from victory, preferring to go
only for the big shots without any kind of pressure. And, they lost by a mere
15 runs. Now, back to our point of concern.
Only in the third over
of the match Aussie pacer Starc appealed for a caught behind against Chris
Gayle, and the umpire upheld it. Gayle was never known to have shown disrespect
or mistrust in umpiring in his strikingly aggressive career, and never sulked
after adverse decisions. Therefore, when he shook his head implying that there
was no snick and asked for the DRS it was very believable and genuine. The review
proved that the ball never touched the bat, and in fact, could have brushed
against the off stump without dislodging the bails. Gayle won the DRS. In the
same over Starc again appealed for an LBW, and the umpire promptly upheld it
while this writer watching television live telecast could clearly see that the
ball was veering away from the leg stump. Gayle raised his eyebrows in wonder
and asked for the second DRS. The review showed how the ball was missing the
leg stump by quite a big margin. Gayle won his second DRS and also opened up
with his breathtaking shots. Perhaps, some people who mattered sulked.
The umpire and Starc combined
all over again. The appeal was for an LBW with the umpire raising his finger
immediately. This time Gayle looked a little bewildered, and asked for his
third DRS. The review was not lost yet again, but since the ball was in line
and seemed to have struck the top edge of the leg stump the umpire’s decision
had to be upheld. And Gayle departed. He was allowed to score only 20 runs.
And then, the real
explosion came. Later replays showed that the ball prior to the one that got
Gayle out was a no ball by a big leap, but the same umpire never seemed to
notice it. Therefore, the ball that got Gayle out finally was a free-hit ball
where no batsman could ever get out.
The above observations
do not intend to take away credit due to Starc who had a five-wicket haul
thanks to consistent pace, line and length, and to Australian captain Finch who
showed a thoroughly professional approach making West Indies play into their
plans.
The other highlights of
the first week, positively, included England, Bangladesh and India beating a beleaguered
South Africa in their respective openers where mention must be made about
Bangladesh’s aggression and the quality of both batting and bowling; West
Indies routing Pakistan, and then Pakistan beating hot favourites England
showing precision batting, bowling and fielding, and the fact that no mention
by anybody was made as to why England offered batting opportunity to Pakistan
on a platter, as the pitch was full of runs and the hosts were full of
confidence; valiant Bangladesh losing in a tight match against New Zealand and
Sri Lanka managing to register their first win over Afghanistan by a narrow
margin.
With the round-robin
league in operation ICC Cricket World Cup-2019 promises to be a fierce battle
between nations upholding their national pride and belief. Each one of the ten
teams is capable of scripting history—one cannot even write off South Africa
and Sri Lanka as yet. We only hope no cricketer suffers like Chris Gayle did in
the exciting days of the tournament ahead. India has big matches coming up—against
Australia on 9th June, against New Zealand on 13th June
and the ultimate one against Pakistan on 16th June.
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