The controversial ball change that became the pivotal moment in the final Ashes Test at The Oval brought about a shift in the game’s strategies the likes of which Australia men’s team coach Andrew McDonald admits he’s never before witnessed.
While conceding his team should have adapted better to the radical switch the match underwent when England successfully asked for their 38-overs-old, unresponsive ball to be swapped and were duly granted a harder, shinier substitute, McDonald agreed it proved a defining act.
Former Test skipper Ricky Ponting described the choice of replacement ball made by on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Joel Wilson as “a huge blunder” and called for an investigation into how the seemingly obvious substitution of…