Zak Crawley says England 'frustrated' by umpiring checks on difficult day one against India

by 24USATVFeb. 25, 2021, 5 a.m. 38
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Zak Crawley says England were "frustrated" by seeming inconsistencies with umpiring checks on a chastening first day of the pink-ball Test in Ahmedabad.

Third umpire Chettithody Shamsuddin decided Ben Stokes had grounded a catch at slip after Shubman Gill edged Stuart Broad, while he also determined that Rohit Sharma had grounded his foot as Ben Foakes aimed to complete a stumping off Jack Leach.

Shamsuddin appeared to make those calls on the basis of minimal replays, yet when Leach was given out caught low at gully off Ravichandran Ashwin in England's lowly 112 all out, he seemed to check various replays.
• Pink-ball Test - day one as it happened

Crawley - who top-scored for England with 53 as they collapsed after winning the toss - told reporters: "I can't say whether they were out or not out, but I think the frustrations lie with not checking more thoroughly.

"When we batted, Leach got a similar one [where the ball went low to the fielder] and it seemed like they looked at it from five or six different angles. When we were fielding they looked at it from one angle, so that is probably where the frustrations lie."

England captain Joe Root was overheard on the stump microphones telling the on-field officials "all we want is consistency".

An ECB spokesman said after day one: "The England captain and head coach [Chris Silverwood] spoke with the match referee after play.

"The captain and head coach acknowledged the challenges the umpires faced and asked respectfully that in making any decisions there was consistency in the process. The match referee said the captain was asking the right questions of the umpires."

Crawley - back in the England side after missing the first two Tests in Chennai due to a wrist injury - added: "We are behind the game and we need those little things to go our way and it seemed like none of them went our way. That's just the way it goes sometimes.

"It is frustrating, we desperately want to win and if things go against us it doesn't help our chances of winning but it's out of our control."

England were razed by India's spinners as Axar Patel (6-38) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3-26) snared a combined nine wickets against a visiting side who selected only one frontline spinner, in Leach.

India closed on 99-3, with Rohit unbeaten on 57 and joined at the crease by Ajinkya Rahane after Leach forced Virat Kohli to chop onto his stumps for 27 late in the evening.

Kohli's men trail by just 13 but Crawley is confident England can rally on day two and insists they do not need a "miracle" to win the third Test of the four-match series.

The 23-year-old said: "We know we should have got a few more runs. I think 200 would have been a competitive score and put us in a good position. But there is a way back, it's nowhere near over.

"We could bowl them out for late 100s, early 200s and if we then get any sort of lead on that wicket, we have a chance. That's the way we are looking at it.

"I don't think it's going to require a miracle. Batting last on this pitch is going to be difficult. If we bowl well and get even a 150-run lead then we have a great chance of winning this game.

"It's definitely going to get harder to bat so if we bat well second innings and put pressure on them we could defend anything on this pitch.

"We obviously need a lot of things to go our way and are going to have to play extremely well but we are capable of doing it with the side we have got."

Follow text commentary of day two of the day-night Test between India and England from 8.45am on Thursday on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.

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