Umpires too good for India

[DesiChap]

January 6: The Sydney Test will definitely be remembered more for consistently shoddy umpiring which cost India dear than for anything else. After Ricky Ponting got a reprieve on the first day of the Test when on just 17, the next umpiring horror came when the Aussies were again in desperate trouble at 191/6. Symonds got a healthy nick to one from Ishant Sharma and Dhoni comfortably pouched it. The jubilation in the Indian camp quickly turned to stunned disbelief as Bucknor sagely shook his head to signal not out. Symonds was then on 30. Worse was to follow. With Australia on 238/6, Kumble drew Symonds forward and beat him with the turn, allowing Dhoni to whip the bails off. Bucknor referred the appeal for a stumping to third umpire Oxenford, who ruled him not out when all the experts on TV, including Aussie great Ian Chappell were convinced he was a goner. Symonds, then on 48, ultimately finished on 162 not out. The seventh wicket, which should have fallen at 191 carried the score to 307. Had there been no errors by the umpires in the Australian first innings, they would have struggled to get past 250. Since no umpiring errors went India's way when they batted first, their score of 532 had no contributions from the true men of the match, the umpires. Of course, the total would have been bigger had the umpire no-balled Lee on the delivery that castled Wasim Jaffer's defences and rocked his stumps. Lee had clearly overstepped. Even discounting that, India should actually have had a first innings lead of at least 239, perhaps closer to 280. As it is, India had to settle for a 69-run lead. Switch now to the Australian second innings. With the home team on 133/2, just 64 runs in the lead, Benson struck again. Kumble spun one into Hussey who was deep into his crease and struck on the pads. The huge appeal was turned down with Benson deciding the ball was missing leg stump. TV replays showed it hitting the inside not the outside of leg stump. Hussey was then on 22. A little later, with Australia on 188/2 and Hayden and Hussey threatening to take the game out of India's reach, Benson did his bit again. Hussey edged one RP Singh ball and Dhoni took the catch moving to the legside. But Benson had other ideas. Not out, he ruled. Hussey was then on 45. The third wicket which should have fallen at 133, finally fell at 250, when Kumble got Hayden. Hussey went on to make 145 not out in Australia's 401/7 declared. Once again, take out the 123 extra runs granted to Hussey by Benson and the total should have been under 280. Put that together with the 290 they should have got in the first essay and their combined total for both innings should have been 570 with three wickets still in hand. Against India's 532 that would have meant they would have just about averted an innings defeat, but still be staring down the barrel. Let's get those Aussie scores again, the way they should actually read for both innings put together. Benson 161, Oxenford 114, Bucknor 18, the Aussie XI 571. But so far in the match, the umpires had contributed only to the Australian batting. As part of the bowling effort, they had not pulled their weight. That was corrected in the Indian second innings. With Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly batting sensibly and pulling India to safety, Bucknor got into the act. The score was 115/3, Dravid batting on 38. Symonds bowled one wide of the off-stump spinning in a little. Dravid let it go by, tucking his bat behind his pads. The ball clipped his pads on the way through to Gilchrist. All the Aussies went up and Bucknor nodded and raised the finger. Suddenly the match no longer looked like meandering to a draw. Team Umpires wasn't done with the match yet. At 137/5, Ganguly on 51 edged one from Brett Lee into the slips where Michael Clarke diving to his left grabbed the ball. Ganguly waited, unsure whether the catch had been cleanly taken. Benson, at the bowler's end didn't seem too sure either. Then he settled the issue by asking not his colleague Bucknor but Ponting whether the catch had been taken. No surprise, Ponting said yes, which was good enough for Benson. Team India had by now seen the writing on the wall. Pitted against the invincible Benson, Bucknor and Oxenford team, they folded up after a brief fight. http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Umpires_too_good_for_India/articleshow/2679307.cms