Third-umpire Adrian Holdstock came under heavy fire from West Indies cricket fans after multiple controversial decisions went against the hosts on the first two days of the opening Test against Australia, at Kensington Oval.
Several disgruntled fans let out murmurs of discontent and disbelief on Thursday after the dismissals of captain Roston Chase and wicket-keeper batsman Shai Hope.
Chase, on 44, was adjudged leg before wicket to his opposite number Pat Cummins in the 50th over with the score at 139 for five with the hosts requiring 41 to equal Australia’s first-innings total of 180.
On-field umpire Richard Kettleborough raised the dreaded finger after a boisterous appeal from Cummins and company; however, the new Windies skipper quickly reviewed in hopes of Holdstock overturning the initial judgement.
Chase’s immediate decision to review indicated that he thought he was not out, having first edged the delivery before it went on to the pads
A spike on the UltraEdge technology and a slight deviation of the ball seemed to confirm Chase’s thinking. However, television umpire Holdstock indicated no bat was involved, while ball tracking showed that the delivery was in line with and hitting the stumps, signaling the captain’s demise.
Chase and batting partner Hope looked away in disgust as the final decision was revealed on the big screen.
Eight overs later, Hope was caught behind by Alex Carey off the bowling of all-rounder Beau Webster for 48.
Two runs short of what would have been a memorable half-century, Hope inside-edged to Carey who took a sprawling one-handed catch to his left. However, some fans shared the opinion that the take was not clean.
Again, third-umpire Holdstock did a customary check to ascertain if part of the ball touched the grass as the wicket-keeper completed his movement.
Hope did not stick around for the final decision, leaving the field while the big screen read “Decision Pending” before a final decision of “Out.”
Later, another very close decision went the way of Cameron Green and Australia.
The controversy followed Wednesday’s not out decision after Holdstock deemed it unclear if wicket-keeper Hope had caught an edge from Australia batsman Travis Head.
West Indies all-format head coach Daren Sammy held back his criticism of the umpires, preferring to ask for consistency and fairness for both teams.
“Two caught behinds, two lbws and it seems like we come up on the short end of the stick all the time, so I just ask for consistency in the decision making. I don’t know what he [Holdstock] is seeing but from the images we have seen, the decisions are not fair enough for both teams,” he said while reserving comment on if an official protest would be lodged.
Speaking on Chase’s dismissal, Sammy said he was trying to understand the decision made.
“In our opinion, we saw the ball deviate onto the pad. Unless there is a super zoomer that gets it closer that we don’t see on the replay, that is what I am trying to find out. I have asked the match referee for a sit down. We are all humans, mistakes will be made, I just want fairness,” said Sammy who gave a sneak peak into his conversation with the skipper.
“I spoke to Roston, he felt there was a nick. It had to be bat first on the replay, but maybe because the [on-field umpire] gave it out and there was not enough doubt to overturn it…I am just trying to understand the decision and the process in getting to the decision. We will definitely have a chat with everyone involved after this game,” said the coach who preferred to attend the post-match conference himself.
rohansonnwaithe@barbadostoday.bb
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