The second day’s play of the first Test between England and West Indies at the Ageas Bowl was a tough one for the hosts, and also for the home umpires, with five decisions overturned all in favour of the tourists.
Richards Kettleborough and Illingworth were left feeling like a pair of dicks, forced to make the dreaded ‘X’ on their chests time and again, with Jason Holder making three successful ‘T’ shapes during West Indies’ bowling innings, and opener John Campbell gaining a couple of reprieves of his own.
Sky Sports Cricket Michael Atherton described the match officials as “a bit rusty”, with the ICC vindicated for giving each team an extra review, with non-neutral and non-elite panel umpires now allowed to mitigate the need for travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. No lbw decisions were awarded to the West Indies first time around; all were won on review.
Here’s a run down of the five overturned lbw decisions:
England innings
Over 25.4, Shannon Gabriel to Rory Burns
There were a couple of noises with the line also an issue, but replays showed the bat scratched the ground and the ball was projected to crash into leg-stump.
Over 33.1, Jason Holder to Zak Crawley
Perhaps the most understandable of the mistakes, with Zak Crawley clipping his pad momentarily before missing the ball, as revealed by UltraEdge.
Over 57.4, Jason Holder to Jofra Archer
Delivered from wide on the crease, umpire Richard Kettleborough originally felt the ball was missing leg-stump, but the ever-accurate Jason Holder was honing in on the right-most pole.
West Indies innings
Over 6.6, James Anderson to John Campbell
One ball before the teams left the field for bad light for the first time on day two, England thought they had a breakthrough, James Anderson bowling over the wicket and beating Campbell on the inside edge. Replays showed the ball pitching just outside leg.
Over 12.2, James Anderson to John Campbell
John Campbell offered no shot to a ball which came back sharply, but Hawk-Eye showed the ball sailing over the top of leg stump.
There was one long-awaited moment of joy for Anderson and the umpires, though not for Campbell, as the right-arm seamer finally trapped him properly plumb, and though he went upstairs, his luck had run out.
