ICC Defends Umpires' Overthrow Call, Says "They Followed Right Process"

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday defended the two umpires Kumar Dharamasena and Marais Erasmus who received a lot of flak for awarding one extra run to the eventual winners England during World Cup 2019 final. ICC's general manager of cricket Geoff Allardice defended both the umpires saying they followed the "right process" while making their decision. The incident in question happened after the ball took a deflection off diving Ben Stokes' bat and ran away to the third-man fence during the summit clash of the showpiece event on July 14. The umpires awarded England six runs, instead of five, and this error in judgement by the on-field umpires turned into a hot topic. 

"After everything that went on during that delivery, they got together over their comms system and made their decision. They certainly followed the right process when making the decision," ICC's general manager of cricket Geoff Allardice was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"They (on-field umpires) had to make a judgement call on the day as to whether the batsmen had crossed when the throw was released," he added.

Midway through the final over of England's innings, a throw from New Zealand fielder Martin Guptill deflected off the bat of Ben Stokes and ran to the boundary, and the hosts were awarded six runs, which eventually helped England tie the match and the ensuing Super Over before winning on boundary count.

TV replays showed Adil Rashid and Stokes had not yet crossed for their second run when Guptill released the ball from the deep, prompting experts to believe that only five runs should have been given.

However, on-field umpires Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus added six runs to England total -- four runs for the ball reaching the boundary plus two for running between the wickets by the batsmen.

Allardice also added that the playing conditions did not allow the third umpire or the match referee to intervene.

"They were aware of the law when they made the judgment about whether the batsmen had crossed or not at the time.

"The playing conditions don't allow them to refer to such a decision to a third umpire. The match referee cannot intervene when the umpires on the field have to make a judgement call like that," he explained.

Allardice said that the entire final would be "considered" by the ICC's Cricket Committee led by former India captain Anil Kumble, but the panel is not scheduled to meet until the first quarter of 2020.

Asked if there were questions raised about England and New Zealand sharing the World Cup after the match ended in a tie twice -- first in regulation time and then in Super Over -- at the ICC Annual Conference in London last week, Allardice insisted that it was important to have only one world champion.

"The consistent view has been that the World Cup final needs a winner and a Super Over was in the playing conditions to decide a tied Final in each of the last three World Cups (2011, 2015 and 2019)."

Meanwhile, the ICC has also given a green signal to use a stop clock to combat slow over-rates in limited-overs cricket.

"In a T20 innings, the clock would start at 85 minutes when the first ball is bowled, and countdown to zero. The aim is that players, umpires and fans will know that when the clock gets to zero the bowling team should have started the last over.

"If there is a delay or interruption in the match due to an injury or a DRS review then the umpire will push a button on a timer that adds time back onto clock," Allardice said.

(With PTI inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team Ben Stokes Adil Rashid Lord's, London World Cup 2019 Cricket International Cricket Council New Zealand vs England, Final