West Indies coach Sammy calls for DRS consistency

United News of India

9 hours ago

Barbados, June 27 (UNI) West Indies coach Daren Sammy said he's approached the match referee seeking answers after several contentious DRS calls across the first two days here.
Sammy called for consistency during an expansive post-play press conference on Thursday night (Friday morning Australian time) as the first Frank Worrell Trophy Test hangs in the balance with Australia leading by 82 runs with six second-innings wickets remaining.
The former Windies captain turned men's head coach believes his side have been on the "sharp
end of the stick" for two separate TV umpire caught behind adjudications as well as two lbw
referrals across the opening two days at Kensington Oval.
There was also a third lbw referral that fell his side's way in the first over of day two when TV umpire Adrian Holdstock determined the Pat Cummins' delivery had not brushed Roston Chase's pad before hitting his inside edge, despite a small murmur appearing on Real-time Snicko (RTS) before the ball reached the bat.
The West Indies captain was on one at the time and went onto score 44, eventually given out leg-before after reviewing another Cummins delivery that he was adamant he had hit before being
struck on the pad.
But Holdstock determined the "ball was a long way from the bat" when another slight spike appeared on RTS a frame before the ball reached the bat, upholding on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough's out decision.
And in the final session, Australian No.4 Cameron Green survived an lbw referral that showed the
ball very close to brushing his front pad when his bat got caught in his back pad flap as a tiny spike showed up on snicko. The ball then also appeared to impact his bat and back pad simultaneously.
On this occasion the third umpire said Green hit it and the not out decision stood, with ball tracking replays on the television broadcast later showing three reds and confirming West Indies worst fears had it been adjudicated there was no bat involved.
That came after Shai Hope was given out caught behind by TV umpire Holdstock when Alex Carey gloved a one-handed screamer diving to his left where the ball appeared very close to touching the ground as his body rolled over upon hitting the turf.
But Holdstock ruled Carey had no case to answer, unlike when Mitchell Starc was denied the catch of Ben Duckett at Lord's in the 2023 Ashes when he grounded the ball while not in control of his body.
It was a double blow for Windies wicketkeeper Hope who was denied a catch on review on day one when it was ruled there wasn't enough evidence to say Travis Head's under-edge had carried into
his gloves.
Starc told reporters after play on Thursday the Australians "all thought the (Head referral) was out".
"There's been some interesting ones," Starc said at stumps on day two.
"A couple more (DRS calls) have gone against the West Indies than us.
"As players, you can only ask a question, we don't use the technology to make the decision.
"It's a grey area so it comes down to the perception of the officials."
Starc speculated that it appeared the RTS and vision were "out of sync to some capacity" given the slight spikes appearing on the technology were a frame or two before the ball appeared to pass the bat or pad.
Sammy, who revealed he took the post-play press conference to shield his players from answering DRS questions so they could focus on the match, said West Indies captain Chase felt he had got an inside edge on the delivery that cost him his wicket.
"I just had a chat with the match referee trying to find some understanding of what the process is," said Sammy, who is in his first Test match in charge after being appointed red-ball coach in April.
"We only hope for consistency in the decision making.
"When there's doubt in something, just be consistent across the board.
"From the images that we're seeing, the decisions are not fair enough for both teams.
"I've asked the match referee for a sit down. We're all humans, mistakes will be made, I just want fairness."
After dropping four catches on day one, West Indies also dropped Sam Konstas twice in three balls before he had scored in the second innings, which only cost them five runs before Shamar Joseph eventually dismissed the teenage opener for the second time in match.
"In spite of all the things that have gone against us, we're still in a position to win a Test match," Sammy said.
"That's what we'll focus on, the things that we can control.
"And yes, we're kind of shooting ourselves in the foot by dropping so many catches but look at the Test match … we against our own selves and somebody's decisions, and we're still in a position to win."
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