Australia skipper Tim Paine has revealed that he will delegate all future Decision Review System (DRS) calls to other players after he was left to rue his massive blunder in the third Ashes Test against England at Headingley.
Hosts England levelled the Ashes in dramatic style on Sunday with Ben Stokes’ unbeaten 135 helping them pull off their record final innings chase (359) in Test cricket with just one wicket to spare.
It could have been all so different for the visitors if they had a review in hand when Stokes was struck on the pads by a Nathan Lyon delivery with England still two runs away from victory. On-field umpire Joel Wilson turned down Australia’s vociferous appeals with replays then going on to show that a review by the visitors would have overturned the decision.
Unfortunately for the Aussies, they had wasted their final review in desperation in the previous over when Pat Cummins struck Jack Leach on the pads. That costly blunder was a bitter pill to swallow for Paine who also questioned Wilson’s decision to turn down Lyon’s appeal.
“I can’t fathom why or how that wasn’t given out at the time,” Paine told the Nine Network.
“Because England had … referrals left, so if it was (incorrectly) given out, the correct decision is then made from upstairs.
“But that’s OK, it happened. We’ve got to control what we can control. We’ve got to use our reviews better. But that one in particular is hard to take at the moment.”
Re-live the raw emotion of the fans and players from both teams during an extraordinary day of cricket at Headingley #Ashes pic.twitter.com/Yrnu1BjEnN
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) August 26, 2019
The DRS error at Headingley was not the first one Paine has made in the ongoing Ashes series with the Australia skipper at fault in the preceding Lord’s Test as well. The wicketkeeper had failed to take a review against Stokes in the second innings of that drawn clash before the England all-rounder went on to slam an unbeaten ton. Stokes was batting on just six runs at the time and it was one among several notable non-referrals by Paine at Lord’s.
“I don’t think I’ve got a referral correct the whole series, so I can’t sit here and bag the umpires,” Paine rued.
“To sit down and single out an umpire is unnecessary. He (Wilson) is no different to everyone else, he is allowed to make mistakes.
“I’ve got every review wrong so far, so I’m going to give up and give it to someone else.”
A win in the Headingley clash would have seen Paine become the first Australia skipper to retain the Ashes series on English soil since 2001. With the five-match series now locked at 1-1, there is all to play for in the fourth and penultimate Test which will begin at Old Trafford on September 4.
