Australian complaints over a controversial ball change during the Fifth Ashes Test are rumbling on, with head coach Andrew McDonald claiming he had never seen a switch have such an impact on a game.
The ball was changed on the fourth afternoon of the series finale at The Oval last weekend, after being knocked out of shape when Mark Wood hit Usman Khawaja on the helmet with a bouncer.
The players were forced off soon after as rain brought a premature end to the day’s play, but returning on the fifth morning, England’s seamers found notably more movement than on the previous afternoon and took three early wickets as Australia, in pursuit of 384, slumped from 140 without loss to 169 for three.
The replacement was selected from a box of used alternatives, with the umpires supposed to choose a ball that looks as similar to its predecessor in terms of wear as possible. Television pictures, however, showed that the new ball appeared to be in better condition than the old one, with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting calling for “an investigation” while commentating on Sky Sports.
“I’ve never seen tactics shift so dramatically on the back of a decision,” McDonald said. “[They] went from catchers in front of the wicket to behind the wicket, and there’s no doubt in some ways it changed the shape of the game and the tactics within the game. So, I will say that ball change did have a
significant bearing on the tactics, the way that England went about it. But in saying that, we still should have been able to navigate that.
“There were two clumps where we lost three for 30 and five for 50, and that’s part of us owning it. The umpires are out there to make a decision and they had a box of balls to choose from, and they made the best decision at that time
Hitting out: Australia coach McDonald has weighed into the ball change row Woakes now hoping to play lead role after late introduction from what they saw was there.” England went on to win the match by 49 runs, Australia steadying after their morning struggles against the changed ball but then losing their final seven wickets for just 70 runs on the evening of day five.
The result meant England claimed the consolation of a 2-2 series draw and while Australia retained the Urn, Pat Cummins’s side missed out on a first outright Ashes victory away from home in 22 years.
“We didn’t quite achieve what we set out to achieve,” McDonald said. “We clearly wanted to come here and win the Ashes but the cricket we played, the cricket both teams played was fascinating.
“The whole series was fascinating. People should be proud of what they’ve achieved, even if we didn’t quite get to where we wanted to in winning the Ashes.”
Chris Woakes was England’s star on the final day, taking four wickets including the crucial one of Steve Smith just as Australia’s chase was beginning to look on track.
Woakes had gone more than a year without playing Test cricket by the time he was recalled for the Third Test at Headingley with England already 2-0 down, but finished as the player of the series after taking 19 wickets.
The 34-year-old has long been a superb bowler in English conditions but has struggled to replicate his form away from home and it remains to be seen whether he will tour India this winter.
With Stuart Broad retiring, however, Woakes hopes to play a leading role across the final years of his international career.
“I want to play for England for as long as possible,” he said. “Still, for me, playing international cricket is the pinnacle. You want to be a part of days like today. You don’t get it any anywhere else.
“You want this to last for as long as possible while you’re still performing.”
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