London [UK], July 31 : Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting believes that the choice of replacement ball during Australia's second innings on the fourth day of fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval was a "huge blunder" which "needs to be investigated".
Umpires Joel Wilson and Kumar Dharmasena changed the ball after the first ball of the 37th over was delivered, deeming that it had gone out of shape after Usman Khawaja was struck on the helmet by a Mark Wood delivery. Only 11 balls were bowled on the second afternoon following the ball change.
The replacement appeared to be way harder and newer than the ball used previously. England then went on to take three early wickets on the first session of fifth day as Australia chased 384 to win, with Chris Woakes getting openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja and Mark Wood getting Marnus Labuschagne.
Ponting feels that umpires had been either "blasé" (indifferent) in their approach of changing the ball or had not been provided with a proper replacement in a box of balls brought on-pitch by fourth umpire David Millns.
"The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball that was chosen to replace the one [that had gone out of shape]," Ponting said on Sky Sports.
"There is no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way are they comparable."
"At the end of the day, if you are going to change the ball, you want to make sure that you get it right, so [you make it] as close as you possibly can to the one that you're changing it from. Now if you have a look in that box, there weren't too many older-condition balls in there. There were some older ones that were picked up, the umpires looked at that and threw them back."
"I just cannot fathom how two international umpires that have done that a lot of times before can get that so wrong. 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, blasé, picked one out of there that they think will be okay to use," he concluded.
As per the ball tracking data provided by broadcasters, the ball seamed and swung way more on the fifth morning than the fourth afternoon, which made Ponting call for an investigation.
"The conditions were perfect for bowling this morning, let us say that. The conditions were better for bowling this morning. But what I saw last night, that ball there, I will put my hand up and say I have got absolutely no doubt at all that that ball would not have done anywhere near as much as what that one did this morning," she said.
"Double the amount of movement this morning from yesterday afternoon, seam movement and swing. I think it is a huge blunder that needs to be investigated," he added.
As per Law 4.5, if umpires are in agreement that balls have become "unfit for play through normal use", they should replace it with "a ball which has had wear comparable with that which the previous ball had received before the need for its replacement".
England's assistant batting coach Marcus Trescothick said on the second evening that the new ball was "just a bit harder" than the old.
"The boys could sense the ball was making a different sound off the bat," he said. "Immediately, there is a bit more life in it. Balls seem to have gone very soft, very fast in this game - and this series. Both captains have tried to change them on numerous occasions," he added.
An ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo: "We do not comment on on-field decisions. As you would expect, umpiring performance is continually evaluated."
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