Australia captain Tim Paine admitted he was having a tough time with his use of the Decision Review System (DRS) after he failed to make the right call twice on day three of the final Ashes Test at The Oval. It was seen that his struggles with the system in this series have been continued.
Initially, it was in the second session where Australia was seen to miss out their first chance, on the last ball of the 45th over, when England opener Joe Denly should have been out lbw to Mitchell Marsh. Australia have opted against the review before replays showed three reds. Denly who was at 54, went on to score a total of 94 before he was seen dismissed by Peter Siddle.
Later on, the second missed chance came in the final session where the skipper failed to review a not-out decision against Jos Buttler after an appeal for lbw, with replays showing Nathan Lyon’s delivery would have hit the stumps. However, Buttler continued to bat almost till the end of the day’s play, before being dismissed for 47.
“I’m getting it wrong. I don’t know what else to say. We are having a mare. We’ve got it wrong. We’re not deliberately getting together and saying: ‘Do you know what, I reckon that’s out, Gaz [Nathan Lyon]. Do you want to refer to it? Nah, let’s let keep him batting.’ We are getting it wrong.” – Paine said.
Paine was seen criticized when he failed to make the right call in the decisive moments early in the third Test at Headingley. Paine opted for a review against Jack Leach, who was struck on the pads by Pat Cummins, only to discover later that the ball had pitched well outside leg. As a result, Australia has left out with no reviews to challenge Ben Stokes when he was trapped in front by Nathan Lyon, with England still two short to win.
“[For] Some I am and some I aren’t [in the best position]. I found the one with Denly, I can’t quite see where that hits him when I’m in behind him, so I’m not sure if that hits his front leg or his back leg. Then, the one with Lyon, I thought it was pretty close. Again, I go off with where my gloves are going, and I was going a little bit leg side with it. Lyon thought it was a bit high, so two wrongs maybe they make a right!” – he explained.
“Batting is going to be all about the skill and our ability to bat for a long time. Luckily if we can get two early wickets tomorrow, we have got a hell of a long time to chase them down, which is great.” – he added.
“We desperately want to win this Test match and finish this series as outright winners. But at the same time, we’re proud of what we’ve done and that we’re taking the urn home. That was the primary goal of why we came here, so to tick that off has been fantastic and I’m really proud of the way our group, our bowlers, our fielding late today. They just continued to come. That’s the sign of a pretty good side, I reckon.” – Paine said.
