Same old England, always swapping: Ashes-style ball change skittles Sri Lanka
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By Dan Walsh
England has benefited from a Test-defining ball change for the second time in a year, prompting Sri Lankan veteran Angelo Mathews to call for more rigorous rules around the controversial practice.
England’s five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at Old Trafford has drawn comparisons to the dramatic shift in the fifth Ashes Test last year,
when a fourth-innings ball change played a pivotal role in the home side drawing the series 2-2.
when a fourth-innings ball change played a pivotal role in the home side drawing the series 2-2.
Mathews was dismissed shortly afterwards by Chris Woakes as the new ball began to swing, with two LBW appeals awarded but reversed by Sri Lanka’s DRS review and two catches dropped as the evening session came to life.
The original ball being swapped for a much better bowlers ball.
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Ricky Ponting was particularly vocal in his objections to the ball change, saying it was “a huge blunder that needs to be investigated”.
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Sri Lankan batting coach and former English batter Ian Bell was more diplomatic about the ball change’s impact at Manchester, pointing out that the venue’s lights were turned on amid heavy cloud cover around the same time.
“In England that can happen,” Bell said. “All you ask for is that [it] is consistent for both teams. I know we tried to change it a couple of time in the first innings, but they didn’t.
“But the seam did look pretty awful on that last ball, and unfortunately, you have to accept in these conditions a ball change can swing around.”