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Stuart Broad’s contentious Ashes dismissal sparks fair play debate again
Stuart Broad was given out by the third umpire during the fourth Ashes Test at Melbourne despite replays suggesting that the ball had burst through Usman Khawaja’s hands on impact.
Four years after Stuart Board was mercilessly referred to as a ‘cheat’ in Australia for not walking and thereby bringing disrepute to the spirit of the game, the England cricket team speedster has a reason to accuse the Australians of doing the same. (Ashes report)
In one of the most contentious moments of the ongoing Ashes, Broad was given out by the third umpire on the third day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground despite TV replays being inconclusive on whether or not Usman Khawaja had claimed the catch cleanly. (Full scorecard)
Broad, who had added 100 runs for the ninth wicket in the company of Alastair Cook, skied a delivery from pacer Pat Cummins towards the deep where Khawaja covered a lot of ground before diving to claim a tremendous catch.
After the on-field umpires decided to go upstairs to check whether the catch was taken cleanly or not, the video replays showed that the ball had bobbled up out of Khawaja’s hands while he skidded forward.
Despite the inconclusive nature of evidence, the third umpire decided to adjudge Broad out, probably taking into account the soft signal of out from the on-field umpires.
For Stuart Broad, it was the second instance of being involved in a similar controversy during an England-Australia Test.
Four years ago in the first Test of the 2013 Ashes in England, Broad refused to walk after edging a delivery from spinner Ashton Agar to Michael Clarke at first slip.
Since umpire Aleem Dar failed to hear the nick and Australia had no reviews left, Broad survived. Australia lost that game narrowly by 14 runs.
Six months later when England travelled to Australia for return Ashes series, Australian coach Darren Lehmann publicly called Broad a cheat and urged Australian fans to taunt him whenever he came to bat or bowl.
Broad faced a barrage of cheating taunts throughout the course of the five-Test series that the home side won 5-0.
What Broad did way back in 2013 was wrong but Thursday’s incident has brought into question Australian players’ attitude as well. Wouldn’t Usman Khawaja have known if the ball bounced out of his hands?
And if the answer was yes, should he have claimed the catch at all? These are the questions that the English press and fans are going to raise and target Australians with in the coming days.
When it comes to the Australian players, it can safely be said that they do not enjoy the best reputation in these matters. During their 2007-08 Test series against India, controversy ensued when Michael Clarke claimed that he caught Sourav Ganguly clean in the slips during the second Test in Sydney.
However, the replays showed clearly that the ball bounced before he caught it. The decision still went in favour of the hosts and the incident has always been a blemish on the reputation of the Australian cricket team.
Despite the nature of controversy, Broad would like to concentrate on continuing his good bowling form when England bowl in the second innings.
After a dismal show with both bat and ball in the first three Tests, the English speedster has finally come on his own in this match and followed his four-wicket haul with a fifty.
A good show with the ball again can give England the much-needed face-saving victory in the series that they have already conceded to their arch-rivals.
