KEY POINTS:
The second test between England and South Africa turned ugly as the shadows lengthened at Headingley yesterday evening, with controversial umpiring marring a fascinating day's play.
Andrew Flintoff, England's returning hero, and Michael Vaughan were in the thick of it as the hosts claimed the wicket of Hashim Amla, South Africa's unbeaten centurion in the drawn first test at Lord's.
In Flintoff's eighth over, Amla chipped a forward prod to mid-off and the ball lobbed to the England captain, who swooped low to his right to take what appeared to be a clean low catch. A disappointed Amla accepted that the catch had been taken and began to make his way from the pitch as England celebrated.
Amla's journey was interrupted before he left the field by Andre Nel, the South African 12th man, who, having watched a television replay of the decision, had been instructed to tell the batsman to stay on the field and contest the decision.
Amla's refusal to go forced the on-field umpires to refer the decision to the third umpire but television replays failed to confirm the catch had been taken cleanly, even though Vaughan probably had his fingers under the ball. England begrudgingly accepted the decision and Amla remained not out at the close as South Africa, in reply to England's disappointing 203, reached 101 for 3 before the close.
It was not the first time in the day that a batsman had stood his ground - Andrew Strauss did the same when he edged a ball from Morne Morkel to AB de Villiers at third slip. Replays showed the ball had indeed touched the ground and Strauss continued, albeit briefly, with his innings.
South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said England captain Michael Vaughan got what he deserved from "Mother Cricket". "It's fair to say that AB took a lot of criticism at lunchtime from some of the England players, from Michael Vaughan himself," Arthur said. "There's a lady up there called Mother Cricket, who doesn't sleep - and it came back to haunt Michael Vaughan later in the day."
Arthur explained: "I've always been a coach that has advocated technology. If the ball bounces it's not out. I'm 100 per cent sure it bounced.
"It is my business," he said of telling Amla to stand his ground. "Hashim Amla is probably the most polite guy in the world, a very disciplined boy. He wouldn't have questioned anything that had happened out there. I felt I was well within my rights to tell one of our key batters, a guy in form, to stay on the ground so the correct decision was made.
"I'd never say Vaughan was dishonest."
He added: "We had two separate incidents, AB thought it had gone from the one hand to the other hand. It clearly hadn't. AB accepted his mistake and apologised straight away out in the middle to Andrew Strauss."
England coach Peter Moores said he had no complaints about Amla's decision. "I've nothing against Amla. If your team have shouted at you to stay you've got to stay," he said.
"Vaughany caught it clean but when he was in the huddle there was big commotion because of what was on the big screen. It was Vaughany who said to the umpires, 'I think you should refer it'."
Moores, who said Vaughan still felt his was a clean catch, said of the de Villiers' incident: "De Villiers has got to decide if he knew [the ball was dropped]. I thought it was disappointing."
The incidents made a mockery of England's decision not to use the three-appeals trial during the series, although the Amla incident also highlighted the shortfalls of using television replays to make decisions. A two-dimensional view of a three-dimensional act often leads to inconclusive results, and Vaughan almost certainly had his fingers under the ball.
Had Amla been given out South Africa would have been 76 for 4 and England well and truly back in the match. Even so, excellent bowling by James Anderson and Flintoff, who took three wickets between them, leaves the match open. Anderson dismissed Neil McKenzie and Jacques Kallis, while Flintoff announced his return with the vital wicket of Graeme Smith, the South African captain.
For the second consecutive test, Smith won the toss and opted to bowl, but once again South Africa's bowlers failed to trouble England's openers with the new ball. The nature of the day changed in the 12th over when Alistair Cook was wrongly given out caught behind by umpire Billy Bowden. As the Morkel delivery made its way through to the wicketkeeper, it made contact with something but the horrified look on Cook's face on seeing Bowden raise his finger suggested all was not right. Replays showed the ball flicked his trousers.
Vaughan quickly followed without scoring but there was nothing controversial about the dismissal as he edged a beauty from Steyn through to Smith at first slip. With England needing a fillip, Pietersen strode to the crease and began to play a glorious array of shots, smashing 28 runs off the initial 15 balls he faced after lunch. Ultimately, though, he edged a wild drive at Steyn to Smith at slip.
- INDEPENDENT
