Ashes 2023 was a joy to watch for the cricket fans, as the oldest and longest format of cricket provided some memorable matches to the cricket audiences around the world. England managed to level the series at 2-2 by winning the final Test match at the Oval, and credit is being given to the bowling attack of England as the bowlers managed to pick up 10 wickets on the final day of the Test match. After such an extraordinary performance, praise for the bowling attack was obvious, but according to former Australian captain Ricky Ponting and current left-handed opener Usman Khawaja, the moment the ball was changed, the momentum shifted towards the England side as the ball replaced was not as old as it should be.
On Day 4 of the Ashes Test 5, Usman Khawaja and David Warner were defending the wickets well and scoring runs, but late in the evening on Day 4, a blow to Khawaja’s helmet led to the change of the ball as it was damaged. Since then, the accusation of giving a brand new ball to the home team has been surfacing, which on Day 5 favored the English bowlers.
“As soon as they changed that ball, I knew straight away that ball was very different,” Khawaja said. “I went up to (umpire Kumar Dharmasena) and asked, ‘How old this ball? It feels like it’s eight overs old.’ You could see the writing both sides, and it hit my bat so hard. I’ve opened the batting in every single innings this Ashes series, and I haven’t felt a ball hit my bat as hard as that ball. I said to the boys coming in, ‘Be careful, this new ball is going to be tricky”
Usman Khawaja said
That is a huge moment in this game, potentially a huge moment in the Test match, and something I think actually has to be investigated… whether there was the right condition of balls in the box, or the umpires have just picked one out of there that they think will be okay to use,
Ricky Ponting said to Sky Sports
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