'Administrators Haven't Had The Guts to Explain Controversial Laws': Australia Legend Blasts Umpires, ICC for Not Enforcing Rules

In the wake of Jonny Bairstow’s stumping effected by Alex Carey on the final day of the Lord’s Test and the subsequent chants of ‘cheats’ from the crowd, Australia legend Ian Chappell has put the blame on match officials and the administrators for their failure to explain and enforce controversial laws.

Bairstow was declared stumped after he wandered off the crease assuming that the ball had been declared dead with Australia wicketkeeper Carey showing game awareness to punish his England counterpart for the mistake.

England captain Ben Stokes, coach Brendon McCullum and media criticised Australia for acting against the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ even though the dismissal was perfectly legal.

Chappell says it was Bairstow who failed to respect his wicket and blasted the crowd for their ‘despicable’ behaviour.

“There have been a number of controversies, headed by Bairstow’s second-innings dismissal at Lord’s,” Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.

“Bairstow was out and his thoughtlessness was the result of an abject failure to respect his wicket. What Alex Carey did was simply smart cricket; there was no deviousness involved and the crowd reaction was despicable, including ludicrous cries about Carey being a cheat,” he added.

Chappell, a former captain, pointed out that some of the debatable rules haven’t been enforced as firmly as they should be by umpires but pointed fingers at the administrators for not backing match officials either.

“Umpires have been lax in not enforcing this unwritten rule when it comes to batters wandering out of their crease, and the administrators are negligent for not backing umpires to the hilt. That has served to further expose the administrators’ inaction,” he wrote.

“They haven’t had the guts to explain some of the more controversial laws. Consequently the players undeservedly hear despicable chants of “Cheat!” from an ill-informed public,” he added.

He then cited another example of using replays for close catches, especially when there’s no clear evidence of a players taking them cleanly.

“In the case of replays for catches, perhaps the administrators haven’t explained the process because there is overwhelming evidence that using replays doesn’t always provide the truth. This is further evidence of how administrators make mistakes and the players suffer the consequences,” he wrote.