Pat Cummins says there has to be a better way for the third umpire to adjudicate on catches after Richard Kettleborough was forced to make three contentious decisions during the third Test.
SCG match umpires lodged reviews for three catches taken low to the ground in the slips at the SCG,.
On each occasion, third umpire Kettleborough found evidence the ball had touched the ground before the fielder was able to control it.
Consequently, none of the catches were paid.
Cummins’ teammates Marnus Labuschagne and Josh Hazlewood previously suggested the first step to changing the way such catches were officiated would be to scrap the on-field umpire’s soft signal, given the third umpire overturned it on two of the three occasions.
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“I don’t really know the answers but there has to be a way to try and improve it somehow,” Cummins said after the Test against South Africa ended in a draw.
Australia celebrate with the trophy. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
“As it currently stands, it’s really hard to give a batter out. If there’s any kind of benefit of the doubt, it goes the batter’s way.
“I think with a couple of camera angles really slowed down, it’s pretty hard to not find doubt somewhere. I do feel for Ketts a little bit up there.”
In making a decision, the third umpire only has access to footage from the host broadcaster, Fox Sports and not from Seven Network cameras.
“Maybe there’s more cameras we can use down the track,” Cummins said.
Proteas captain Dean Elgar was visibly frustrated when his side was on the receiving end of the first non-catch call but at stumps said he was pleased the umpires remained consistent throughout the match.
“The way the umpires conducted the three was pretty good. I think it was brilliant,” he said.
“Once you’ve set the bar with the first one, you can’t really budge much from there.
“Those things are always going to be a grey area, some guys will say out, some guys will say not out. At the end of the day, their decision is final and as players we respect that.”
Agar to get ticket to India
The Sydney wicket did not break up as they expected given the rain, but Ashton Agar’s wicketless 22 overs as Australia’s second spinner will be a point of contention.
Test skipper Pat Cummins confirmed after the Test that Agar would be in the squad for India, but whether Australia play with a second spinner or rely heavily on part-timer Travis Head will be considered.
“I’m sure Ash will be there,” Cummins said. “This wicket was a lot different to India. It wasn’t really spinning out of the middle. I thought he did really well.”
Proteas coach says they’re not far off best
South Africa coach Malibongwe Maketa believes the gulf between his side and the top Test nations is not as wide as it appears but the Proteas will have few opportunities to play catch-up because of a sparse red-ball schedule.
South Africa return home after a 2-0 series loss to Australia was wrapped up with a draw at the SCG.
Lacklustre batting thwarted the Proteas with highest score posted by a South African player being 65.
With the ball, South Africa took 38 wickets across the three Tests, compared to Australia’s 52.
The Australian team was considerably more seasoned as well, having brought 258 more games of Test experience into the series finale, but interim coach Maketa said South Africa were not that far behind the Australians.
He was encouraged by the performance of his bowling unit and suggested that had the Proteas batters been able to form a solid partnership on a bowler-friendly Gabba wicket in the series opener, the match could have panned out differently.
“I can’t say it’s difficult, they’ve beaten us 2-0, to gauge the gap,” Maketa said.
“How big the gap is, it might feel big because of how we went about it in the first two Test matches but I don’t think it’s that big.
“If you look at our bowling attack and you look at the fact that we competed here, I really do believe (if) two batters put their hands up in that first Test, we win the game.”
But Maketa conceded as things stand, it would be difficult for his inexperienced side to begin taking steps to improve unless Cricket South Africa began scheduling more Test matches.
(Photo by Jason McCawley – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
The country’s new IPL-backed SA20 T20 league is due to begin its inaugural tournament in the coming days and South Africa is set to prioritise white-ball internationals in the months that follow it.
In the next 12 months, South Africa is scheduled to play only four Tests. In that timeframe, Australia will play at least 12.
“I know Cricket South Africa is working hard on getting more and more Test matches for us,” Maketa said.
“It’s been said enough that we’d like to play more for us to grow and for these players to grow, they have to play. They need to be exposed.
“I felt we had enough first-class experience but that’s nowhere near enough to compete at this level.”
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