Steve Smith critical of poor umpiring
Apr 17, 2016 at 12:38 PM
The third and final ODI between hosts New Zealand and Australia at Hamilton would be remembered for a few reasons. Being the last ODI of New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, it is bound to be etched in the memories of almost every cricket viewer. However, the game would also be known for a controversial episode involving Australian all rounder Mitchell Marsh.
Marsh was dismissed in an extremely weird fashion, as he tried to squeeze the delivery from pacer Matt Henry. The ball popped into the air, after making contact with Marsh’s shoes and went straight into the hands of Henry who did not appeal in the most convincing fashion. The two umpires had a long discussion and finally decided to refer to the third umpire. The replays showed that the ball had made no contact with the ground, just with the bat and with Marsh’s shoes before going into the hands of Henry.
Marsh was given out after a really long time and that changed the course of the game as New Zealand soon wrapped up the tail. Australian captain Steve Smith has severely criticized the way in which the umpires handled the situation. “I don’t think decisions should be made on the big screen, I don’t think that’s right for the game. I think better processes need to be put in place,” Smith said. “We’ve got a review system in place. You have 15 seconds to make your decision and I don’t think that was necessary for that to come up in that point in time.”
“Neither of the umpires heard an appeal so the game went on. Well it was supposed to go on. It was shown on the big screen that there was a half-appeal so they went upstairs. I was pretty disappointed with the whole process. It was handled pretty poorly. New Zealand players genuinely believed it wasn’t out and, not until they saw it on the screen, did they change their mind,” Smith added.
“The right decision was made – he was out, there’s no doubt about that. But if I get hit on the pad next time and it’s missing leg, do I stand there and wait until it shows that up on the big screen?”