England were left fuming over a controversial no-catch ruling which may have given the Black Caps a gilt-edged shot at a test series victory.
New Zealand opener Devon Conway was ruled not out when on 22 during his innings on day two of the second test at Edgbaston overnight (NZ time), when the hosts were convinced they had dismissed the standout player of the series to date.
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Devon Conway watches as Zak Crawley attempts to take the catch during day two of the second test at Edgbaston.
The left-hander edged a delivery from Stuart Broad low to second slip, where Zak Crawley scooped the ball into his hands.
Conway looked to the umpires for a decision and Richard Kettleborough gave a soft signal of not out as he referred the decision to Michael Gough, the third umpire. After watching a series of replays, Gough found no hard evidence that a mistake had been made, despite Crawley and his team-mates confidence that he had caught the ball without it touching the turf.
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If Kettleborough had given a soft signal of out, its possible Gough may not have overturned that decision.
Broad looked livid that Conway had been given a life, and he made plenty of it before being dismissed for 80 as his side ended day two 229-3 after dismissing England for 303. The two sides drew the first test of the two-match series at Lords.
England wickets tumbled on day one as the Black Caps bowlers took the upper hand.
Broad could yet face action from the match referee over his reaction to the decision his father, Chris Broad.
England bowling coach Jon Lewis later told media the home side were frustrated by the ruling, and questioned why the entire decision shouldnt be in the hands of the third umpire.
Stuart Broad of England shows his anger after Devon Conway of New Zealand was ruled not out.
You could see from the reaction on the field that they were really frustrated about it, Lewis said.
I suppose the question really is, is the soft signal required? Should there be one, or could the guy off the field make the decision?
Richard Illingworth obviously thought the ball didn’t carry and which is fair enough from his angle he thought the ball didn’t carry, so that’s the decision they made.
And New Zealand will be happy with it and we’ll be frustrated by it.
Not surprisingly, Conway pronounced himself happy with how the incident panned out.
Devon Conway of New Zealand hits a boundary during day two of the second test at Edgbaston.
I nicked it and looked back and wasn’t 100 per cent sure if it did carry and stood there to see if the umpire was going to give me out.
He said ‘hang on in a minute, let’s just go upstairs and have a look’. Fortunately the ruling went towards my way and pretty grateful that it perhaps bounced in front of the fielder, so I’m pretty happy that I got another chance.
It happens so quickly for an umpire to give a definite answer straight away, it’s pretty tough on the human eye to make that call straight away.
We’ve got the technology here to prove whether the guys are catching it or whether it’s dropped short, so why not use that technology if we have it?
The soft signal has been scrapped in the IPL and will soon come under the microscope by the ICC.