Same old England, always swapping: Ashes-style ball change skittles Sri Lanka
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.
Sri Lanka’s batters found themselves in a similar position on day three in Manchester, when they held a slender 24-run lead but had Mathews and Kamindu Mendis at the crease and well set in a partnership of 53.
Umpires Chris Gaffaney and Paul Reiffel agreed to England’s request to swap out a wearing Dukes ball in the 41st over for a firmer ball with a more prominent seam.
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 old ball (left) was replaced by new ball (right) and immediately helped England.Credit: Sky Sports
Sri Lanka were eventually dismissed for 326 – with Mendis scoring 113 – before Joe Root (62*) led a fourth-innings chase of 205 with five wickets to spare.
Speaking to broadcasters Sky Sports at the start of day four, Mathews said he had been told the replacement ball was not as old as the original one and that the ball-change had turned the Test match.
“It looked like they were running out of plans but unfortunately the ball was changed,” Mathews said.
Chris Woakes appeals in Manchester.Credit: Getty Images
“We were told they didn’t have old enough balls to replace. It changed the entire momentum of the game. You work so hard to get rid of that shine, and we did that.
“Once the ball was changed, it was a whole different game… You’ve got to have a set of rules where you determine how the ball is going to be changed... I really don’t know, but it can be really disadvantageous for the batters.”
A similar move during last year’s fifth Ashes Test prompted queries from Australian opener Usman Khawaja, who “hadn’t felt the ball hit my bat as hard” as when the ball was controversially swapped at England’s request.
Ricky Ponting hit out at England’s contentious ball swap late on day four at the Oval last year.Credit: Getty/Nine
Ricky Ponting was particularly vocal in his objections to the ball change, saying it was “a huge blunder that needs to be investigated”.
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.”
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