Australia embroiled in third umpire controversy amid West Indies fury
West Indies head coach Daren Sammy asked whether there was 'something against our team' after Australia benefited from two controversial decisions from the third umpire in their Test match.
After two days in Barbados, the Test is evenly poised, with Australia making 92 for four in their second innings, a lead of just 82 runs. But Australia's position would be far worse were it not for two decisions made by Adrian Holdstock, the third umpire who hails from South Africa.
'I have noticed, especially with this particular umpire, it's something that for me started in England,' Sammy said, referring to Holdstock. 'It's frustrating. I just ask for consistency in the decision-making.
'You don't want to get yourself in a situation where you're wondering about certain umpires. Is there something against this team? But when you see decision after decision, then it raises the question. I know he's here for the series. You don't want to go in a Test match having that doubt.
'You don't want to be going into a Test match not trusting the umpires. And that's not what our team is about. So we're just looking for some clarity as to the decisions.'
After the second day's play at Kensington Oval, Sammy reportedly met with match referee Javagal Srinath to understand the TV umpire's thinking. When asked whether he could make a formal complaint about Holdstock, Sammy said: 'You'll have to wait and see for that.'
The first incident: Chase, lbw b Cummins, 44
Captain Roston Chase and Shai Hope had shared a partnership of 67 to put West Indies in the ascendancy. A ball from Pat Cummins caught Chase on the crease, and he was given out lbw on the field. Chase then reviewed the decision.
UltraEdge appeared to show a spike when the ball passed the bat – suggesting an inside edge, which would have led to the leg-before decision being overturned. But Holdstock said that there was a clear gap between bat and ball. Chase remained given out, to Sammy's surprise.
'In our opinion, we saw the ball deviated onto the pad,' Sammy said.
The second incident: Hope c Carey b Webster 48
Eight overs later Hope – West Indies's top scorer with 48 – then fell victim to a controversial decision too. A delivery on a good length from Beau Webster seamed in and found Hope's inside edge.
Diving at full stretch to his left, wicketkeeper Alex Carey claimed the catch. But the on-field umpires checked whether Carey had caught the ball cleanly in his outstretched left glove.
Replays appeared to suggest that part of the ball was touching the ground as his glove landed on the ground, although the ball never fell out of the glove. Holdstock adjudged that the ball was caught cleanly, leading to Hope being dismissed.
OUT or NOT OUT?🤔
Alex Carey's catch to dismiss Shai Hope could spark debate.
📸: Twitter/X pic.twitter.com/UWKQDz0cjs
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) June 27, 2025
Sammy said that after a similar incident occurred in Australia's first innings, when Travis Head was batting, Holdstock declared the batsman not out, accusing the third umpire of inconsistency.
'I'm just saying, judge what you see,' Sammy said. 'If you see the same thing and one is not out, there is even more doubt on the other one that you give it out. Again, I don't know what he's seen but from the images that we've seen, the decisions are not fair enough for both teams. We're all humans. Mistakes will be made. I just want fairness.'
Australia's Mitchell Starc admitted that he thought that Head's edge the previous day was out. Starc suggested that the technology was not functioning well in Barbados.
'There's been some interesting ones,' Starc said. 'Obviously a couple more have gone against the West Indies than us.'
Australia appeared to suffer from one earlier decision in West Indies's innings, with Chase seemingly leg-before to Josh Hazlewood on one. After reviewing the decision, and seeing Chase struck plumb in line with the stumps, Australia's players started celebrating, but Holdstock found that Chase got an inside edge before he was struck.
'One for us [against Chase] looked like there was a gap between the bat and the ball, it cost us 40-odd runs, but then a contentious one to then get the wicket,' Starc said.
'As players, you can only ask a question. We don't use the technology to make that decision. It sort of felt like, or looked like, that the Snicko and the images were out of sync to some capacity.'
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