Abolish ‘umpire's call’, says Ben Stokes

Zak Crawley was given out in England’s second innings despite this Hawk-Eye replay suggesting that the ball would have missed the stumps

Ben Stokes called for the abolition of “umpire’s call” in the decision review system after his team were humbled by India in a 434-run third-Test defeat.

For the second time in as many Tests, Stokes took aim at the technology used to decide if a batsman is out, and he and coach Brendon McCullum were seen in animated conversation with match referee Jeff Crowe at the conclusion of the match.

Stokes revealed they were questioning Zak Crawley’s marginal leg-before dismissal to Jasprit Bumrah, because a projection had been shown on TV coverage with the ball missing the stumps.

After England lost by 106 runs in Visakhapatnam, Stokes questioned the technology for another Crawley LBW, this time to Kuldeep Yadav.

While he did not blame umpiring decisions for England’s thumping defeat, Stokes did call for the removal of umpire’s call, which is in place due to the predictive – and therefore not bulletproof – nature of ball-tracking technology.

“We just wanted some clarity around Zak’s DRS when the images came back,” said Stokes. “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. We just wanted some clarity from Hawk-Eye. It came back saying the numbers were 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.

“I think when people [who] are in charge of it say something has gone wrong that is enough in itself.

“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.

“You just want something that is consistent, so when the people that use the system are saying something has gone wrong, whatever it is, who’s to say it’s not gone wrong at another time that could prove pivotal? Umpire’s call, personally I think we should just get rid of it. If it’s hitting the stumps, it’s hitting the stumps, then it’s a level playing field.

“It’s not me blaming that on what’s happened here, like I didn’t last week. It’s just… what’s going on?”

Stokes was sanguine about the defeat, in which England were bowled out for 122 in their second innings to leave them 2-1 down in the five-match series.

“Losing a Test match always hurts, you don’t want to be on the losing end. You don’t want to be bowled out for that total when you’re chasing,” said Stokes.

“Writing it off wouldn’t do justice to the professionalism of the players in the dressing room. You’ve got to learn from disappointment but use it in a positive way, not let it eat you.”

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