There was a moment of controversy in the first Australia-West Indies Test, with an lbw decision against Jason Holder overturned in contentious circumstances.
The Barbadian all-rounder was given out off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood, seemingly beaten on the inside-edge as he prodded forward. However, the former captain reviewed straight away, seemingly convinced he had hit the ball.
The TV umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, found enough evidence to agree with him. While there was no sign of a nick on Hot Spot, UltraEdge showed a spike as the ball was close to the bat.
The controversy was down to exactly when the spike appeared, seemingly a frame after the ball passed the bat. Australia were clearly unhappy on the field, and there were grumbles off the field too, with suggestions of a gap between bat and ball.
“The old DRS system, ‘diabolical review system’, fails again,” tweeted former Victoria captain Darren Berry. “What a joke this continues to be.”
Former Australia captain Lisa Sthalekar suggested the right decision was reached. “Not out, based on my understanding if there is a spike even one frame after the ball passes the bat, as there can be a delay,” she tweeted.
Others pointed to the fact that there was no frame when the ball was directly next to the bat.
This has been enough evidence to overturn for a long time. It is a clear nick on RTS on the very next frame of the ball going past the bat (there is no frame exactly when the ball passes the bat). #Cricket #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/saw1ZTI7GP
— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) December 2, 2022
The decision did not cost Australia much, with Holder adding only another 21 runs before being caught at leg slip off Nathan Lyon.
