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‘DRS has got that completely wrong’ – Ben Stokes

by Wisden Staff 2 minute read

Ben Stokes has given his opinion on the appeal for LBW against him that was controversially turned down by umpire Joel Wilson at Headingley yesterday.

With England needing two runs to win, Stokes missed a sweep shot against Nathan Lyon, but Australia’s confident appeal fell on deaf ears. Ball-tracker subsequently revealed that Stokes should have been given out.

However, Stokes has disagreed with the technology, and maintained that the on-field decision was correct:

‘I have seen the DRS on my LBW shout, which obviously shows up with three reds, but DRS has got that completely wrong – it flicked my front pad first and didn’t spin.’ On ball-tracker, the technology predicted the path of the ball on the assumption that it missed the front pad, and spun straight into the back one.

Had the Australians not burnt their last review a few overs earlier on another LBW shout where the ball pitched a foot outside leg-stump, they would have been able to overturn Wilson’s decision, with DRS showing three red lights.

‘It shows how crucial it is to make sure you use your reviews. When you get to a situation like that, you still need one.

“I’ve got every review wrong… I can’t sit here and bag the umpires.”

Nathan Lyon of Australia appeals for the wicket of Ben Stokes, had Australia had a review left Stokes would have been given out.

‘If they had one they would have used it and ended up winning. I still cannot believe it was three reds.’

The series is currently tied at 1-1 with two to play, the first of which begins at Old Trafford next Wednesday.

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