Cricket: Umpires leave bitter England at a loss

12:20 PM - By DEREK PRINGLE

GALLE - The upward graph that Nasser Hussain's team have enjoyed since last winter suddenly flattened, following England's defeat in the first Test to Sri Lanka by an innings and 28 runs.

For once, the mitigating circumstances outweighed the faults as the visitors were in turn cooked by the sun, sauteed by the spinners and finally skewered by the umpires.

When three such elements conspire, you need luck to play its part. England had none and the impression given, after Darren Gough's first ball swipe at Muttiah Muralitharan had given the game to the home side, was that this was not a pleasant match to play in.

What soured it most though, was not the excitable and excessive appealing, for which four Sri Lankan players were fined 25 per-cent of their match fee, but the six appalling decisions made by the two umpires, AV Jayaprakash and Peter Manuel.

There can be no doubt that they blighted England's batting far more than Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya, who took seven and eight wickets respectively. Indeed, had Hussain's team avoided the follow-on, something that would surely have been achieved without umpire error, they may well have travelled to Kandy with the series still level.

It may add to the paranoia that some of the England team are beginning to exhibit – Robert Croft smashed the glass pane of the dressing-room door after another bad lbw – but you cannot expect professional players to endure amateurish umpiring. Cricket's old paternalistic codes, that would have players grin and bear bad decisions, are totally unacceptable in an era that demands ever increasing levels of fitness and commitment.

Afterwards, the England captain, who received a questionable, though by no means poor, lbw decision on Sunday, was calm but forthright in his assessment of the match and the way it had been conducted.

"A few weeks ago I turned down the chance to go to the International Cricket Council's meeting of Test captains, but now I wish I'd gone," Hussain said. "I thought by staying in Sri Lanka and working on my game that I was being professional. But then you come here for four-and-a-half days and it wasn't a very professional game of cricket. That leaves a bad taste in the mouth." Because of the ICC code of conduct, Hussain cannot comment on the umpiring directly, a gagging order he feels should be changed.

"As a Test captain, I want to be able to say something and after having a few days to take the heat out of the situation, I will find out from the England and Wales Cricket Board what exactly I can and cannot say.

"I'm not going to make any rash comments, but I will be filling in a hefty match report. This game did not need this controversy. Sri Lanka are a very, very good side, they don't need the periphery things going on to play good cricket. The standard of umpiring, the standard of appealing and the running all over the pitch, all those things, we didn't need that to make this a good game of cricket."

Perhaps seduced by the devil-you-know theory, Hussain spoke of his concerns over changing umpires for each Test match. For the second Test in Kandy, due to start in eight days time, the two new umpires are BC Cooray, and South Africa's Rudi Koertzen. Both made poor decisions against England when they toured South Africa last winter.

"Take something like the interpretation of the lbw laws," Hussain said. "Some umpires let you play with your pad while some don't. As a batsman, you find out which ones do what. The danger with changing umpires in the middle of a series is that the interpretations of what is lbw changes too. My reaction at being out on Sunday was not with the decision, but that I would be safe to play Muralitharan, as others did, by tucking my bat behind by pad."

If the England captain has a point, it would be wrong to suggest that the umpiring was the source of all England's problems. The bald truth is that touring sides have been roasted on the sub-continent ever since tours began.

Given that the ECB has paid scant regard to this part of the world throughout most of the 90s, is it really any wonder that the players have struggled here against the forces thrown at them on a crumbling pitch that, had it been used by Essex in 1989, would probably have resulted in 25 docked points.

Beginning the final day on 118-2, still 99 runs away from making Sri Lanka bat again, England really needed to be batting at tea to have any chance of saving the match. Discounting miracles, their main hope in this department was Michael Atherton, but when he went, without adding to his overnight score of 44, England's fate was as good as sealed. Considering pace produced one wicket for England, the bowling of Chaminda Vaas, who ended with four important wickets, was illuminating.

After a series of reverse-swingers, he let Atherton have a leg-cutter which the batsman edged to the wicket-keeper, Kumar Sangakkara, who claimed the low catch.

The batsman, uncertain that the ball had carried, stood his ground until the umpire, AV Jayaprakash, raised his finger. Afterwards TV replays using a magnifying lens suggested that Sangakkara scooped the ball on the half-volley. Certainly, there was enough doubt about whether the ball carried for the umpire to refer the decision to his colleague at square-leg, or even the third umpire. The debate concerning the use of technology has divided cricket, but for Hussain the choice is simple. "One wicket is such an important thing that if it takes five minutes to set up the TV replays, then let's take it. It's vital we get things right."

No replay would have saved Graham Thorpe who was pretty much plumb when trapped on the back foot by a quicker ball from Kumara Dharmasena. Graeme Hick, too, can have no complaints, though Sangakkara had the fortune to see his fluffed attempt at taking the edge end up in Mahela Jayawardene's left hand at slip. It was these two, plus Muralitharan and Russell Arnold at short-leg, who were fined 25 per-cent of their fee (£500) by the match referee.

Only Alec Stewart, more comfortable against spin than of late, looked to have the staying power that England needed to stave off defeat.

Partners though were more problematic and Craig White, given not out by Jayaprakash when TV replays clearly showed he'd hit the ball to silly point, was promptly given out lbw next ball sweeping one that struck his pad a full eight inches outside off-stump.

With Croft given out lbw as well, after getting an inside edge onto his pad, England's misery was complete. The challenge now, and one that has always tested sides visiting these parts, is for them to put this irascible match behind them and begin afresh at Kandy in a week's time.

GALLE SCOREBOARD

Fifth day; Sri Lanka won toss

SRI LANKA – First Innings 470 for 5 dec (M Atapattu 201no, A P De Silva 106, D P M Jayawardene 61, K Sangakkara 58).

ENGLAND – First Innings 253 (M E Trescothick 122; S T Jayasuriya 4-50).

ENGLAND – Second Innings (Overnight: 118 for 2)

M A Atherton c Sangakkara b Vaas 44 257 min, 203 balls, 1 four

M E Trescothick c Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 57 194 min, 169 balls, 6 fours

N Hussain lbw b Muralitharan 1 17 min, 20 balls

G P Thorpe lbw b Dharmasena 12 112 min, 86 balls

A J Stewart not out 34 152 min, 120 balls, 4 fours

G A Hick c Jayawardene b Jayasuriya 6 33 min, 35 balls

C White lbw b Muralitharan 3 19 min, 16 balls

A R Caddick b Jayasuriya 1 10 min, 7 balls

A F Giles lbw b Muralitharan 1 3 min, 2 balls

R D B Croft lbw b Jayasuriya 2 12 min, 14 balls

D Gough b Muralitharan 0 2 min, 1 ball

Extras (b11, lb6, nb11) 28

Total (410 min, 110.3 overs) 189

Fall (cont): 3-121 (Atherton), 4-145 (Thorpe), 5-167 (Hick), 6-176 (White), 7-182 (Caddick), 8-183 (Giles), 9-188 (Croft).

Bowling: Vaas 15-6-29-1 (nb2) (4-0-15-0, 3-2-5-0, 8-4-9-1); Fernando 4-0-10-0 (one spell); Jayasuriya 32-13-44-4 (9-5-12-0, 13-4-20-1, 3-2-4-0, 7-2-8-3); Dharmasena 16-6-21-1 (5-2-5-0, 4-0-8-0, 7-4-8-1); Muralitharan 42.3-14-66-4 (nb9) (32-12-44-1, 10.3-2-24-3), Arnold 1-0-2-0 (one spell).

Progress: Fifth day: 150: 335 min, 90.1 overs. Lunch: 174-5 (Stewart 27, White 1) 100 overs. Innings closed: 1.52pm.

Result: Sri Lanka win by an innings and 28 runs

Umpires: A V Jayaprakash (Ind) and P T Manuel.

Match referee: Hanumant Singh.

Man of the match: M S Atapattu.

Second Test: 7-11 March (Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy).

Third Test: 15-19 March (Sinhalese Sport Club Ground, Colombo).