Oz media call umpires 'circus clowns', want Koertzen sacked

Stung by the umpiring bloopers in the second Ashes Test, Australian media on Monday spit venom on match officials, seeking the sacking of Rudy Koertzen and flaying the other "circus clown" Billy Doctrove.

Stung by the umpiring bloopers in the second Ashes Test, Australian media on Monday spit venom on match officials, seeking the sacking of Rudy Koertzen and flaying the other "circus clown" Billy Doctrove.

HT Image

'The Daily Telegraph' showed no mercy and questioned what Koertzen was doing there.

"If Rudi Koertzen was the chief executive of a major company he would have been sacked on the spot two years ago. He was the umpire who convinced his co-umpires to misinterpret the rain rule which made a farce of the World Cup final.

Amazingly, he is still at large making major blunders which shape the results of series," the writer said.

The media in Melbourne was outraged after Simon Katich was caught off a no ball which umpire Billy Doctrove failed to detect while Phillip Hughes was caught by England captain Andrew Strauss, at least Koertzen believed so as the South Africa refused to refer it to the third umpire.

"I can forgive Billy Doctrove - just - for failing to detect that the ball which dismissed Simon Katich was a no-ball and the fact that Mike Hussey hit the ground and not the ball when he was given out. But there was absolutely no excuse for Koertzen not to go to the third umpire to decide whether Andrew Strauss has correctly caught Phil Hughes at slip," the writer fumed.