The veteran pacer was convinced that he had the dismissal in the bag, and did not hold back whilst talking about the final decision.
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After a controversial umpiring decision on Day 2 of the second Test match between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston, pacer Stuart Broad has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do away with the soft signal rule. Kiwi batter Devon Conway had nicked a Broad delivery that seemed to just carry to Zak Crawley at slip. The bowler was convinced that he had gotten his man, but the umpires were not quite sure. The on-field umpires referred the decision to the TV umpire, Michael Gough. They gave not out as the soft signal. Eventually, Gough confirmed the decision of the on-field umpires with replays showing Crawley’s fingers underneath the ball. Conway had made 22 runs at the time and went on to make 80 runs to help the Kiwis to a big score.
The veteran pacer was convinced that he had the dismissal in the bag, and did not hold back whilst talking about the final decision. He did, however, display sympathy for the umpires. “You can see from our reaction on the field that we thought it was out,” Broad said to Sky Sports.
“Zak thought he had his fingers under the ball and you only have to look at Joe Root’s reaction at first slip and James Bracey’s reaction behind the stumps, who are a yard away from it, to know that that ball has carried. But I feel for the umpires in this situation. It’s not the umpires’ fault that they’re 40 yards away, potentially 60 yards in white-ball cricket, with maybe an obscured view,” he added.
The English fast bowler acknowledged the umpires do have a very difficult situation if they have no choice but to give a soft signal. “It’s actually the ruling that’s putting the umpires in a really difficult situation. It’s having to get a soft signal. You’re going upstairs because you’re not sure whether it’s carried or not. So then to have to give an opinion whether you think it has, puts the umpire in a really tricky position. Then the third umpire’s hands are tied a little bit with whatever that on-field call is,” he added.
He posed a question that asked whether the ICC should take a look at the soft signal rule and maybe change it since it puts their own staff, the umpires, in a very tricky situation. “So, my question is: do you think that the ICC need to look at changing that rule because it just seems to put their staff in a tricky position?” he said.
Asked about whether he felt the soft signal rule should be changed, Broad said that the cons of the soft signal rule outweigh the pros. “I do, absolutely. When you calmly look at the pros and cons of the soft signal, the cons completely outweigh the pros. So to me, that looks as if it’s a poor ruling,” he added..
The second Test of the three-match series between England and New Zealand commenced on June 10. England batted first and posted a score of 303 in the first innings. The Kiwi batters, however, have comfortably got more runs on the board and look to be on course to a healthy lead.
