ICC Breaks Silence Over Ashes Ball Change Debate Amid Massive Criticism | Cricket News

There was no dearth of controversies on the subject of the recently-concluded Ashes 2023 collection between England and Australia. The remaining match of the closely-contested collection was no totally different as questions have been requested concerning the ball-change that Australia believes proved to be essential in tilting the match in England’s favour. During Day 4 of the encounter, the 36-over-old ball was modified for a brand new one however Australia complained that the brand new ball was shinier and tougher than what it ought to have been. The change of ball proved to be a turning level as Australia misplaced wickets in fast succession and have been finally defeated by 49 runs. Australian ex-cricketers Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath weren’t happy with the incident and each legends made their emotions clear relating to the subject.

However, the International Council has made the protocol clear for such conditions.

“The ICC does not comment on the decisions taken by umpires in matches. We can, however, confirm that all balls are pre-selected before the start of every match and when the situation calls for it, the match officials choose the ball that is closest to the condition of the ball that is being replaced,” a spokesperson for the worldwide cricket governing physique stated.

Earlier, Ponting expressed his frustration with what occurred within the remaining Ashes Test.

“The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball that was chosen to replace. There’s no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way are they comparable. If you are going to change the ball, you want to make sure that you get it right, so it is as close as you possibly can to the one that you’re changing it from. Now if you have a look in that box, there weren’t too many older-condition balls in there. There were some older ones that were picked up, the umpires looked at that and threw them back,” Ponting stated on Sky Sports.