All posts by csb10.top

Liam Plunkett has been ruled out of the end of the T20 tri-series and the five ODIs against New Zealand with a recurrence of the hamstring injury he picked up in Australia.Plunkett made his return against New Zealand in Wellington earlier this week but aggravated the problem he first suffered in the ODI in Sydney last month. He has been diagnosed with a grade one tear and unlike when he stayed with the squad after the injury in Australia he will now be heading home.”An MRI scan today confirmed a minor hamstring strain and this will not recover in time to take part in the ODI series,” the ECB said. “A replacement for the ODI squad will be announced in the upcoming days.”Although England have been bolstered by the arrival of Ben Stokes the ECB said a replacement for Plunkett would be named in the coming days. One possible route is to retain Sam Curran, the Surrey allrounder, who was added to the T20 squad but is not in the one-day party.Captain Eoin Morgan has sat out the last two T20s due to injury with Jos Buttler leading the side.Australia’s record chase against New Zealand at Eden Park gave England a lifeline in the T20 series although they will still need to beat the hosts by a significant margin at Seddon Park to progress to the final in Auckland on February 21.

Australia’s captain Steven Smith has called for an end to the practice of on-field umpires offering a “soft signal” to the third umpire on disputed catches, arguing that technology should be arbiter in such cases as the immediate reactions of players in the middle have often proven to be flawed.Smith was given out caught behind at a critical juncture of the third ODI in Sydney on Sunday, edging low to Jos Buttler who immediately celebrated the catch. The on-field umpires Chris Gaffaney and Simon Fry then referred the catch to the TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena with the soft signal of “out”, and while replays shrouded the catch in far greater doubt, Dharmasena did not deem it to be enough to overrule the initial impression of his colleagues.In assessing the process, Smith said he felt that the umpires’ signal was often dictated by the reactions – either celebratory or ambivalent – of players in the middle, and carried too much weight relative to the evidence provided by television cameras. He said he would prefer a system where the third umpire made a ruling based purely on the pictures in front of him.”I’m not sure I’m a big fan of the ruling with the soft signal. That’s obviously the ruling at the moment and it’s hard to overturn anything,” Smith said. “We’ve seen a few this summer that have been pretty similar and if the fielder goes up and actually celebrates they usually get given out and if you’re a bit apprehensive of what’s happened they normally get given not out.”It’s hard for them to overturn the decision. I’d actually like for the third umpire to have to make the decision whether it’s out or not. Just them having to do it, if that makes sense.”The soft signal was introduced for disputed catches in part because it was felt that two dimensional camera images and foreshortening often added doubt to catches that all on the field had considered clean, meaning too many were ruled not out as a matter of course. Simon Taufel, the former ICC umpires training manager, has explained the reason for its existence by stating that umpires needed to retain the primary responsibility for decision-making.”It’s part of the decision-making process,” he told the in 2016. “If the third umpire cannot find conclusive evidence to prove that the original on-field decision is incorrect, then it stands. On-field umpires are there to make decisions and answer appeals, not simply to send them upstairs to the third umpire to take the call.”Decision making is an important skill and one that should be applied at the highest level of the game. So, the soft signal maintains the premise that the decision-making happens on field and not just left to technology to provide an outcome.”David Warner fell early in Australia’s chase•Associated Press

Buttler, for his part, remained adamant he had caught the ball cleanly when queried about it afterwards. “I was pretty sure it was out,” he said. “I think any wicketkeeper would tell you, you know if you get your fingers underneath it. It always looks a bit either way on TV but for me it was out.”Smith made it clear he was not questioning Buttler’s honesty: “He obviously thought it was out, he’s a pretty honest guy, so he thought it was out and it got given out so I had to walk off.”Other questions had been raised about Smith via footage that showed him rubbing the side of his lips before shining the ball during England’s innings – the use of saliva is permitted under the game’s laws but lip balm is not. “It was all spit,” Smith said. “People said something about lip balm. If you look at my lips, they’re pretty dry, I certainly didn’t have any of that on. It’s just the way I get some spit into the side of my mouth and get some spit onto the ball. So there was nothing in it.”As for Australia’s loss, surrendering the series to England in the minimum three matches, Smith said he needed to improve personally alongside a better collective effort from his men. “Five wins out of last 18 games and that’s just not good enough,” he said. “We’ve got to start finding ways to get over the line. Looking at this game I think the first 44 overs was really good and then Jos played particularly well at the end and Woakesy played well as well.”But I don’t think we executed well. We probably just needed to bowl some good balls at the top of the stumps and try to get them swinging across the line; we bowled too full or too short and got hurt. We probably should have been chasing somewhere around 270 or 280 and then if we do that things might have been a lot different.”I’ve got to play some better cricket. It was about me trying to control the middle with the spinners and keep getting off strike. Tonight I wasn’t good enough at that. I should have been up around a run a ball, it would have made things a bit easier at the back end. Not many balls were hitting the middle of my bat, which was disappointing. I don’t know what it is. Maybe I need to watch the ball a bit closer or something like that. It’s something to look at for Adelaide, hopefully I can do it a lot better and start helping this team win some games of cricket.”Fined 40% of his match fee for being deemed two overs behind the required over rate and now facing a ban for a repeat offence over the next 12 months, Smith said that he and the bowlers needed to be more disciplined in the field – no fewer than 13 wides and a no-ball effectively granted England more than two extra overs.”Yeah it’s not ideal, it’s two extra overs and 14 runs or thereabouts,” Smith said. “They’ve got to be a bit better with that as well. I think we were about 27 minutes over time as well so it’s going to cost me a bit, but I don’t mind that. It’s not ideal to have to bowl two extra overs and give away runs against a quality opposition.”

Big Picture

The concept of the points-based “Super Series”, trialled last summer to add over-arching context to the sport’s three different formats, was quietly put into mothballs ahead of this season. But had it still been in existence, we’d have been geared up for an improbably thrilling climax to the second tour of the English summer. Following West Indies’ victory in Saturday’s one-off T20 and their stunning run-chase in the second Test at Headingley, England’s lead would have been a narrow eight points to six with a possible 10 still up for grabs – an ideal level of intrigue leading into the latest finish to an English season on record.And yet … taken in its own context (and leaving aside the threat of cold, wet conditions and potentially indifferent crowds), this particular one-day series requires remarkably little artifice to have an interest all of its own. Part of that may be due to a tinge of desperation on the part of the visitors – West Indies, currently ranked No.9 in the world in ODIs, are in serious peril of missing out on automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup – they will need a 4-0 or 5-0 series win to vault into the top eight positions. And even if that challenge proves beyond them, the fact that the World Cup will be taking place on English soil in barely 18 months’ time means that there are still plenty of benefits to be had in this reconnaissance mission.More pertinently, however, the coming five matches represent the first trickle of a new era for West Indies cricket following the thawing in relations between their senior players and the CWI. A pair of star batsmen are back in harness for this trip – Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels – with the promise of more to come if further progress can be made in negotiations. It’s small steps, but significant ones, given how far apart the two parties have been since last year’s World T20, when it could be argued that the righteous fury that the board ignited within a tight-knit squad turned out to be a major factor in their surge to the trophy.For England, too, there is plenty at stake in the coming few days. They have put so much into their white-ball cricket in recent seasons that this brief outing – sandwiched as it is between seven home Tests and the rapidly approaching Ashes tour – seems an odd throwback to the pre-2015 era in which one-day cricket was seen as a second-class citizen. All the more reason, therefore, for Eoin Morgan’s men to put their best feet forward as the season draws to a close, and keep that precious “momentum” (whatever that really entails…) bubbling into their new-year engagements in Australia and New Zealand.It is a measure of the progress made by England in recent months that their last ODI outing was such a bitter anti-climax. Previous one-day teams might have been delighted to make it as far as the final four of a global tournament, but there was barely disguised dismay as England crashed to defeat in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy against the eventual champions, Pakistan, in Cardiff, after their riotous run-makers were left floundering by the pace and hostility of, in particular, Junaid Khan and Hasan Ali.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LWWWL
West Indies LWLLW

In the spotlight

He’s days away from his 38th birthday, and in terms of his career, he’s already deeper into autumn than even this English season. But there’s an inevitable sense of new beginnings for Chris Gayle, as he prepares for what will be his first ODI appearance since the 2015 World Cup, already two and a half years ago. Gayle showed during his brief and explosive foray at Chester-le-Street that he remains a formidable campaigner, still without equal when it comes to dispatching length deliveries into the ether, of which there were far too many in England’s gullible bowling performance in Saturday’s T20. His running between the wickets, never exactly a strength even in his heyday, remains an Achilles heel. But he’s got his sights firmly set on the 2019 World Cup, and amid the thawing of relationships with CWI, who would bet against him securing his dream farewell?It’s not the same format, but there will be several of the same players ready to greet him as he makes his return to the white-ball fray. Ben Stokes was controversially omitted from England’s ranks in the one-off T20 at his home ground in Durham, but now he’s back on parade, and reunited with the team that swiped his dream, and his final over, into the night sky in Kolkata 18 months ago. Most significantly, perhaps, Stokes will be reunited with Marlon Samuels – a player who has been under his skin and in his face for the best part of two years. Salutes, taunts and a truck-load of vitriol has flowed between two players who wear their hearts on their sleeves. It’s not always edifying viewing, but it’s rarely less than entertaining. And given the importance of the two characters to their teams, whoever wins their personal duel will go a long way to winning the overall contest.

Teams news

Given how tough Jonny Bairstow has found it to break into England’s first-choice XI, it is quite a surprise – though an entirely merited one – that he has been preferred once again to Jason Roy at the top of England’s order. Roy received unequivocal backing throughout the group stages of the Champions Trophy, but eventually had to give way through his sheer dearth of runs. Bairstow did his best with 41 from 57 balls in a low-scoring semi-final – only Joe Root managed more for England – and, in the words of his captain, Eoin Morgan, “he deserves a chance to make the position his own.” England will be strengthened significantly from the T20 line-up with the return of their two allrounders, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali. Chris Woakes may be in line for his ODI return, having suffered a side strain in the opening match of the Champions Trophy, but Tom Curran – impressive in his three T20s to date – could be in line for a debut.England (possible) 1 Alex Hales, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Tom Curran, 10 Jake Ball, 11 Liam PlunkettWest Indies’ T20 squad contained none of the Test players who made names for themselves during the first leg of their tour, but the ODI squad is an amalgam of the two formats – with the likes of Shai Hope, the breakout star of the Test series, and Jason Holder, blended in with the likes of Gayle and Samuels. Jason Holder returns to his leadership duties in place of Carlos Brathwaite.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 Kyle Hope, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Jason Mohammed, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Jerome Taylor, 10 Kesrick Williams

Pitch and conditions

It promises to be bright and intermittently warm at Old Trafford on Tuesday, which ought to cheer up West Indies after their less-than-enthusiastic tackling of the chilly evening conditions at Chester-le-Street on Saturday. It’s been a while since Old Trafford hosted a 50-over game, but Lancashire amassed 300-plus scores in both of their Royal London Cup fixtures earlier this season, so plenty runs could be in the offing.

Stats and trivia

• Old Trafford will be hosting its first ODI in two years, since the visit of Australia in September 2015. England will be hoping to put up a better showing than they did on that occasion. Australia needed fewer than 25 overs to rattle to their series-winning victory target of 139.
• The last time these two sides met in an ODI series was in the Caribbean in March, when Morgan’s men were 3-0 winners.

Quotes

“I don’t think anyone knows [how to bowl to Gayle], do they? He’s such a good player he just hits the ball out of the park wherever he wants.”
“It’s obviously a huge boost with the calibre of player Chris is. We can expect some really good things from him.”

ScorecardAn unbeaten half-century from Daniel Hughes put New South Wales in a strong position at stumps on day three as the Blues pursued a target of 309 against Victoria at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.The Blues made an outstanding start to the run chase with Hughes and Nick Larkin putting on 83 for the first wicket in less than 22 overs before Fawad Ahmed broke through.He had Ed Cowan stumped to put the Blues under pressure but Kurtis Patterson and Hughes built steadily towards stumps.Earlier, Travis Dean made his second hundred in successive matches to help the Bushrangers set a substantial target. He scored 106 from 270 balls and got good lower-order support from Peter Siddle (28) and Dan Christian (22). Trent Copeland picked up Chris Tremain to secure his 15th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.Victoria batsman Will Pucovski, who had been substituted out of the match with concussion, indicated he would return to action once he feels better. The 20-year old was struck on the helmet by a Sean Abbott bouncer on the second day after which he was taken off the ground for medical assistance. “It was unfortunate but that’s cricket,” Pucovski said in a statement. “I’m under the supervision of Cricket Victoria’s medical team and we’ll look at my return to play options once I have fully recovered.”

Local uncapped talent will constitute only 16% of the total players in the Bangladesh Premier League this season – an all-time low – as a result of the BPL governing council’s decision to allow franchises to field five overseas cricketers in an XI.

Count of uncapped Bangladesh players in each season

• BPL 2012 (5 foreigners): Total 111; local uncapped 26 (23%)

• BPL 2013 (5 foreigners): Total 134; local uncapped 35 (26%)

• BPL 2015 (4 foreigners): Total 120; local uncapped 24 (20%)

• BPL 2016 (4 foreigners): Total 131; local uncapped 31 (23%)
  BPL 2017 (5 foreigners): Total 180; local uncapped 29 (16%)

This is a throwback to the regulations used in 2012 and 2013, although back then the BPL was in its infancy still finding its feet as a T20 tournament. And yet, the local uncapped players constituted 26% of the pool in 2013 while the corresponding figure in the inaugural edition in 2012 was 23%. The year 2015 was an aberration: even with only four foreigners in an XI, the uncapped players count was as low as 20%.When announcing the regulation earlier this year, the BPL governing council said it took the decision after consulting the participating franchises. Rajshahi Kings weren’t in favour of the move.Khulna Titans have the largest contingent of Bangladeshi uncapped players – seven – while Sylhet Sixers and Comilla Victorians have only three. Sylhet have signed three uncapped overseas players as well.Dhaka Dynamites coach Khaled Mahmud was unsure if the move would benefit Bangladesh cricket, but he did say there aren’t many players in the country who are explosive enough to play T20 cricket.”I would call it a concern but we also have to realise that we don’t have enough quality,” he said. “We have already lost seven local players [with the axing of Barisal Bulls] but I would still say that finding a place in the team is what the local players need as a challenge. The young players should have competition rather than having a confirmed team. There aren’t many T20 specialists in our pipeline, but at the same time, they need opportunities to be honest.”As a means to address that, BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick said: “We are thinking of holding a domestic T20 tournament with only local players, with the Dhaka Premier League (one-day tournament) or the four Bangladesh Cricket League (first-class) teams. So about 48 players will be able to play.”Reactions to these new regulations was divided. Nabil Samad, an experienced domestic performer, felt that “Bangladeshi players got more opportunities with bat and ball when seven local players were around. But this time the scope has become limited for batsmen, especially those in the top-order. Teams usually try to utilise foreign players in those positions”Meanwhile Khulna fast bowler Abu Jayed chose to see the bright side. “BPL is a good platform to enter the national team, because it lets us stay in focus. There isn’t any media coverage in National Cricket League (first-class cricket) and Bangladesh Cricket League. I think we can look at the positive of it. We will be brought into focus if we do well. There aren’t many of us.”

Kaushal Adhikari

Nepal stunned defending champions India on the third day of the Under-19 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Playing a key role in the 19-run win was the captain Dipendra Singh Airee. First he made 88 in Nepal’s modest 185 for 8. Then he took 4 for 39 to wrestle India down from 91 for 1 to 166 all out.There were several points in the match when the eventual result looked quite unlikely. Like when Himanshu Rana got the chase off to a brisk start, smacking seven fours and a six in his 38-ball 46. Though he fell to Kamal Singh Airee, India seemed to have things well in hand. At one point, they only needed 96 runs in about 27 overs with nine wickets in hand.The game turned when Dipendra dismissed Atharva Taide. Pawan Sarraf (2-24) and Shalab Alam (2-11) also chipped in with a couple of wickets to ensure India’s middle and lower order felt the pressure of the chase. And eventually the quarter-finalists in the last Under-19 World Cup secured victory.It was perhaps the situation Dipendra had hoped for when he was batting earlier in the day, doing his best to repair the innings after the loss of both openers inside 10 overs. He added 49 for the third wicket with Jitendra Singh, before taking charge with an innings that included six fours and two sixes. Having faced 101 deliveries, he was dismissed only in the penultimate over.Nepal, who were beaten by Bangladesh by two wickets in their tournament opener, play Malaysia next on Tuesday, while India, winners by 202 runs against Malaysia, take on Bangladesh.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:00

Knocks like this don’t come every day – Miller

David Miller smashed the fastest T20I century off 35 balls, beating countryman Richard Levi by 10 deliveries. In doing so, Miller took South Africa to a series win and a historic clean-sweep across formats against a visiting team, the first such instance in 17 tours in which they have played an opposition in all three formats. As a result, Bangladesh leave the country empty-handed, defeated in the Tests, ODIs and T20Is, with Miller’s mauling being the final nail in the coffin.South Africa, with new coach Ottis Gibson at the helm, aimed to be as ruthless as possible in this early-season series, and underlined that intention with this performance, in their 100th T20 international.Hashim Amla set the tone with his 85 off 51 balls and seemed set for a century but was dismissed in the 17th over, attempting to clear the midwicket boundary. Miller was on 42 off 20 balls at the time, with 21 balls left in the innings. Miller, however, needed only 15 of those to get the 58 runs that took him to a hundred, including five sixes in succession off Mohammad Saifuddin in the penultimate over of the innings.Bangladesh had reason to rue that assault, for they could have dismissed Miller early in his innings, even before he had a run to his name. The second ball Miller faced was short from Rubel Hossain and he gloved it down the leg side. Mushfiqur Rahim, the wicketkeeper, dived one-handed to his right, got to the ball but could not hold on. In the next over, Miller charged Saifuddin and lofted a drive over the covers. Three fielders converged on the ball but the ball landed between them.At that juncture in the game, Bangladesh were more concerned about Amla, who was timing the ball well and had sauntered to his fifty off 32 balls. He held together the first half of South Africa’s innings, in which the visitors kept them fairly quiet. Shakib Al Hasan bowled both Mangaliso Mosehle and JP Duminy for single-digit scores and AB de Villiers holed out to long-off for 20. South Africa were 78 for 3 at the halfway stage when Amla began to up the ante.He took on the short ball, which Bangladesh offered in abundance, and allowed Miller ample time to settle. Miller seemed to need it and could have been out a third time when he came out of his crease and edged Mahmudullah in the 15th over, with the ball rolling towards the stumps, but missing it eventually. Miller made it back in time and avoided being stumped. That was, however, the last of the nerves shown by him.Miller slammed the next ball over long-off for the first of his nine sixes. There was much more to come. He dispatched Rubel to cow corner for four in the next over, then sent him over long-on for two sixes in the next three balls. By the time Amla was dismissed, Miller had got his eye in. He reached his half-century with a top-edge off a hook and followed that up by smashing a Taskin Ahmed full toss over long-on before the showstopper.Saifuddin, who had figures of 2 for 22 from his first three overs, started his final over with a full, slower ball. Miller clobbered it for a six. Then, he went quicker but still full, outside off. Miller went inside-out over the covers for six. The third ball was also full, Miller shuffled across and flicked behind square leg for the third six. Then Saifuddin darted the next one full down the leg side and out came another flick for another six. It was only after he had been hit for four consecutive sixes that Saifuddin received some advice from his captain but to no avail. He went short and Miller pulled. For six.AFP

Only two other players have hit six sixes in a row in an over in international cricket, one of them a South African – Herschelle Gibbs – and Miller was on the cusp of joining them. The final ball was full and wide and Miller went down on one knee but drove it along the ground for one. He was disappointed but kept strike, which enabled him to go for a hundred in the final over.Miller fell over as he reached for a full Rubel delivery that he sent for four and then under-edged a full toss for four more before a brace of twos took him to the fastest hundred in this format. Farhaan Behardien, the non-striker, was as much a spectator as the beleaguered Bangladesh attack. While Shakib conceded only 22 runs off his four overs, the other five bowlers gave away 201 runs off 16 overs at 12.5 an over. Saifuddin’s 31-run fourth over meant he finished with 2 for 53 but Miller could be heard commiserating with him as the teams left the field.”Tough luck,” Miller said. For Bangladesh, it only got tougher.They have never scored over 200 in a T20 and needed 225 this time. They started well, with 17 runs off the first over but South Africa had a trick up their sleeve. Duminy brought himself on in the second over and should have had a wicket immediately. Soumya Sarkar took him on and sent the ball straight to Robbie Frylinck at mid-on, who had to take a simple catch but could not hold on. Duminy kept Sarkar quiet for the rest of that over and on the last ball, he was desperate to get a move on and called for a suicidal single after belting the ball into the covers. Miller collected and threw the ball wide of Mosehle, who had to move to his left but had enough time to gather and run Imrul Kayes out.Rather than see himself as a novelty, Duminy continued and in his next over, struck the killer blow. Shakib made room and Duminy aimed at the stumps and bowled him. In the next over, Mushfiqur edged Frylink to Mosehle; Bangladesh were 32 for 3 before five overs were up and they had little opportunity left to stage a comeback. It was only a matter of time for them and all of South Africa’s bowlers enjoyed some reward as they wrapped up a professional, clinical victory.

India have opted for training sessions instead of a warm-up fixture in South Africa, in the lead-up to the first Test between the two teams from January 5 in Cape Town. A press release from Cricket South Africa on Monday announced India’s decision.Although the BCCI did not give any reason officially for dropping the warm-up match, it is understood the request was made by the team management well in advance. The board was told that the team management preferred to focus on training on their own as soon as it landed in South Africa on December 28. A team official confirmed the development, but declined to elaborating further, saying it was an “internal matter”.The Indian team management’s preoccupation with acclimatising the players to South African conditions even before they set foot in the country has been such that “lively greentops” were deemed the need of the hour through the Sri Lanka Test series at home.There had been some confusion over the schedule for India’s tour of South Africa, with both boards holding discussions since the beginning of the year. In August, the BCCI had made it clear to CSA that India would not arrive until at least the last week of 2017, because their home series against Sri Lanka ends on December 24.The BCCI wanted its players to take a short break before they departed for South Africa, ruling India out of the traditional Boxing Day Test, which South Africa will now play over four days against Zimbabwe. Eventually, even the New Year’s Test which is traditionally played from January 2 in Cape Town was pushed back to January 5. Incidentally, in September, an official involved in the discussions told ESPNcricinfo that India would “definitely play one practice match before the first Test”.Following the Cape Town Test, two more will be played in Centurion and Johannesburg, followed by six ODIs and three T20Is.

Harry Podmore is expected to agree a move to Kent within the next few days.The seamer, signed to Middlesex but frequently on loan elsewhere, has struggled for opportunities amid a strong coterie of fast bowlers at Lord’s but has been courted by several counties in recent months and can be expected to feature prominently in the Kent side. ESPNcricinfo understands he has agreed a three-year contract.Podmore, a product of the Middlesex system, is not blessed with great pace but has height, accuracy and skill on his side. Aged 23, he has been limited to just four first-class matches for Middlesex, but has played four more for each of Glamorgan and Derbyshire. He also had a brief loan spell at Durham at the end of last season, but didn’t break into the first team. He has undergone minor surgery on his elbow over the last few months and is said to be bowling significantly quicker as a result.His arrival will be welcomed by a Kent side that have looked a little light on seam-bowling options and could be without Mitchell Claydon, who has a hand injury, for the start of the season. It is understood the club have been in discussions with several players and there may be further additions before the season.

Josh Hazlewood has pleaded guilty to breaching the ICC’s Code of Conduct after showing dissent at the result of a decision review during New Zealand’s second innings in Christchurch. Hazlewood, who was fined 15% of his match fee for the incident, along with captain Steven Smith was part of an ugly confrontation with umpire Ranmore Martinesz in the last over before lunch.The incident occurred after the Australians appealed for lbw from a near yorker that Hazlewood delivered to Kane Williamson, and Martinesz ruled not-out. Smith immediately asked for a review from third umpire Richard Illingworth, who saw a small Hot Spot mark near the bottom of Williamson’s inside edge and instructed Martinesz to stay with his not-out decision.The Australians, who had seen the replays on the big screen at Hagley Oval, appeared to be furious with the review, indicating to Martinesz that they thought the Hot Spot was the result of Williamson’s bat hitting his boot. Smith walked towards Martinesz to remonstrate and Hazlewood was heard on the stump microphone to say: “Who the f*** is the third umpire?”Their reaction drew immediate criticism from the TV commentators on air at the time, Mark Richardson declaring the actions of the Australians as “intolerable” and Ian Smith saying that Martinesz “does not deserve a grilling out there”. Hazlewood also appeared to express frustration as the players walked off at the lunch break, speaking to New Zealand batsman Corey Anderson.”I didn’t actually hear anything, I got told that he was saying something to me,” Anderson said after play. “But I’m actually deaf in my left ear, so he could have been on my wrong side. Whether he said something or not, I’m not too concerned. You hear a little bit every now and then when you’re out there, but you’re so focused and consumed by what you do, you end up blocking most of it out.”One factor in the drama appeared to be that the replays shown on the big screen at Hagley Oval, which the players saw at the time, were less clear than those seen by TV viewers at home. Anderson said Williamson had been “unsure” whether he had nicked the ball or not, and that it was sometimes not until the players saw replays in the change-rooms that they understood the process.”It was one of those ones where it’s so close you don’t know sometimes whether you’ve whacked your foot or if you’ve whacked the ball,” Anderson said. “I know from the big screen there’s a few bits and pieces that are harder to tell. I know there was one yesterday with Joe Burns that we thought nicked the glove and it was turned down. Once you go back in the sheds and see what has actually happened, it’s a lot clearer.”It’s always one of those things. We’ve been on the end of those where you want a wicket so badly and you want something to happen in the game and it doesn’t quite go your way. It’s part of it. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again.”The incident occurred near the end of a session in which Australia had failed to take a wicket, despite a dropped catch, an edge that fell fractionally short of wicketkeeper Peter Nevill, and another lbw review that also showed an inside edge. Jackson Bird, who eventually finished with a five-wicket haul, said frustration had played a part in the response of the Australians.”We bowled pretty well in the first session and we probably thought it was out,” Bird said. “But those 50-50 calls, they either go your way or they don’t. So it was probably the frustration of the whole session. We’d bowled pretty well and hadn’t got a wicket. We’d been pretty close a couple of times. So you know – it’s one of those things. We couldn’t quite tell what was going on. It didn’t go our way but that’s how the game goes sometimes.”However, the Australians were unhappy at the fact that Hazlewood’s comment – “who the f*** is the third umpire?” – was broadcast. Stump microphones are not supposed to remain live when players and umpires are conversing.”Yeah it is a little bit [disappointing],” Bird said. “We’re all for having technology in the game, and all the new technology that comes out every year is great and great for the viewers at home. But I don’t see why the stump mics need to be broadcast to the whole world. I’m not sure why they were.”