As England suffered an embarrassing 434-run defeat in the third Test, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum were seen chatting with the match referee, Jeff Crowe.
As England suffered an embarrassing 434-run defeat in the third Test, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum were seen chatting with the match referee, Jeff Crowe. The duo was probably trying to understand how DRS works following Zak Crawley’s controversial dismissal in the second innings.
Stokes talked to TalkSport, revealing his chat with the match referee, stating that they were bemused as the ball wasn’t hitting the stumps on Crawley’s dismissal. According to Stokes, “something’s gone wrong”.
“We just wanted some clarity around Zak’s DRS when the images came back. The ball is quite clearly missing the stump on the replay. So when it gets given umpire’s call, and the ball’s not actually hitting the stumps, we were a bit bemused. So, we just wanted some clarity from the Hawk-Eye guys. It came back saying the numbers, or whatever it is that is, it was saying that it was hitting the stumps, but it was the projection that was wrong. I don’t know what that means. Something’s gone wrong, so, yeah. It’s not me blaming that on what’s happened here, like I didn’t last week. It’s just… what’s going on?”
It’s not surprising to see the English players questioning the authenticity of DRS since they are on the receiving end, and the frustration is palpable in a game which saw them getting hammered by a handsome margin. They have done it numerous times in the past but forget to praise it when they benefit from it.
Ben Stokes later added England had been on the wrong end thrice in this game. However, he clarified it was not the reason for their loss, as Stokes attempted to hide his disappointment.
“We’ve been on the wrong end of three umpire’s calls this game, and that is part of DRS. You’re either on the right side or the wrong side. Unfortunately, we’ve been on the wrong side. I’m not saying and never will say that’s the reason why we’ve lost this game, because 500 is a lot of runs. It is not something you pin down to result of the game. Sometimes when you are on the wrong end of those decisions, it hurts but that is part of the game. You want them to go your way; sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.”
❎ “The ball didn’t hit the stump on the replay. We should take away umpires call.”
📹 “When the people in charge of it are saying that something’s gone wrong, then that says enough.”
Ben Stokes chats to @cameronponsonby about the DRS decisions in their defeat 🏏 #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/89RWI4LT7Z
— talkSPORT Cricket (@Cricket_TS) February 18, 2024
While he acknowledged the arduous role of the umpires, he wants a level playing field. Stokes wants the umpire’s call to be scrapped.
“You just want a level playing field. The umpires have an incredibly hard job as it is, especially in India when the ball is spinning and bouncing. My personal opinion is if the ball is hitting the stumps, it is hitting the stumps. They should take away ‘umpire’s call’ if I’m being perfectly honest. I don’t want to get too much into it because it sounds like we are moaning and saying that is why we lost the Test match.”
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