‘Ballgate’ controversy dominates Australian media’s reaction to Test defeat

‘Ballgate’ dominated Australian press coverage following England’s victory in the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval.

The changing of the ball just before rain stopped play on the fourth day, when openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja were well set, sparked a fair amount of outrage among Australian journalists and pundits.

The Daily Telegraph in Australia described the ball change as “disgraceful”, while Peter Lalor in The Australian asked if a “blunder” by the umpires had cost Australia the series victory, saying the change “appeared to alter the course of the game” and argued it “cost the visitors dearly”.

And the Sydney Morning Herald quoted former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Sky Sports who described it as “a huge blunder that needs to be investigated”.

He said: “The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball chosen to replace it.

“There is no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way they are comparable.

“That is a huge moment in this game, potentially a huge moment in the Test match. And something I think has to be investigated.

“I will put my hand up and say I have no doubt at all that [old] ball would not have done anywhere near as much as that one did this morning.”

But writing for the same title, Daniel Brettig argued “ballgate” was not to blame for Australia’s defeat.

He said: “It may be tempting to apply a conspiratorial lens to the replacement ball.

“But the underlying truth of The Oval, and indeed the second half of this Ashes series, is that Australia too often left themselves in positions where they needed to perform miracles in order to get ahead of the game.

“It will be a source of significant disappointment that a team of maturity and even temper was unable to summon a single performance good enough to win any of the last three Tests.”

Khawaja wants the International Cricket Council to look into the process of changing the ball mid-innings.

“Personally I think if there’s nothing else in the box that can match the ball you have, you can’t really change it,” Khawaja told cricket.com.au.

“It’s frustrating for us as a batting unit. We worked our backsides off for 35, 36 overs when they changed the ball. That ball was 95 overs into it and still swinging, hooping and bouncing.

“It may not feel fair but hopefully some learnings out of it and hopefully the ICC can look at it and try to improve that ball-changing process.”

The Australian’s Gideon Haigh looked beyond the drama of the five-match series and expressed concerns for the future of the format, despite England captain Ben Stokes’ assertion it was “what Test cricket needs”.

While conceding the series “contained classic matches, and imperishable passages of play, mainly from the hosts”, Haigh criticised the way the Ashes had been shoehorned into such a short period to make room for more short-form cricket.

He wrote: “This was an Ashes series not an Ashes summer. Australia have shoehorned six Tests into 54 days, England six into 60. Australia now does not play its next Test until December 14, England its next until January 25.

“Hours before the day began, one team beat another in Dallas, concluding a fortnight of T20 funded largely Indian capital and principally sponsored by an online betting company; today, one team plays another in Nottingham to commence The Hundred, in which the England Cricket Board will in due course try selling to similar corporate interests.

“Viva the Ashes! Long live Test cricket! That might be the most premature celebration of all.”

The Daily Telegraph also had some sobering news for cricket as it said viewing figures for Australia’s victory over Canada in the Women’s World Cup – which coincided with the first session – beat the final-day drama at The Oval “by an enormous margin”.

But Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley congratulated the men’s team for a successful tour.

“We are all enormously proud of Pat Cummins and his team for all they have achieved on their tour of England,” he said.

“The squad was determined to return with the World Test Championship trophy and the Ashes, and to achieve both objectives in often difficult conditions against world-class opposition and in front of extremely passionate and occasionally hostile crowds, is a credit to all the players and support staff.

“I would also like to congratulate England, whose enterprising play has helped to make these such memorable series, and particularly retiring fast-bowler Stuart Broad who has been such a formidable opponent and competitor over many years.”