The International Cricket Council has taken the unusual step to confirm that James Anderson was incorrectly given out at the end of England’s defeat to Australia in their World Cup opener.
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Anderson was adjudged run out in a farcical end to the match as both sets of players were left unsure by the ruling of on-field officials Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena – who have both previously won the ICC Umpires of the Year award.
James Taylor had correctly reviewed an lbw decision, but replays also showed that Anderson had been caught short of his ground and Dharmasena gave him out.
The ICC revealed in a statement, issued just over an hour after the game, that the ball should have been called dead and that they had met with the England management to confirm the error.
Controversial end! Should the ball have been dead? Judge for yourself! #ENGvsAUS #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/elCPz7NrDs
— Paul Dennett (@the_summer_game) February 14, 2015
“Following Australia’s 111-run victory over England in the Group A ICC Cricket World Cup clash at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday night, the Playing Control Team (PCT) met and reviewed the final ball of the game which resulted in James Anderson being given run out,” the statement read.
“Article 3.6a of Appendix 6 of the Decision Review System (DRS) Playing Conditions states that the ball should have been deemed dead when the batsman ( James Taylor ) was given out leg before wicket (lbw). No further runs or dismissals were possible.
“The PCT spoke to the England team management and acknowledges that the game ended incorrectly and an error was made.”
Australian opener and Man of the Match, Aaron Finch, had earlier admitted in his post-match conference that he had “no idea” of what the ruling should have been.
Finch said: “We had no idea what was going on. We appealed for a leg before, we appealed for a run out. We would have taken anything at the time.
“I honestly still don’t know the rule. Maybe it was a dead ball, but I still haven’t seen a rule.”
