Veteran Sri Lankan player Angelo Mathews was unhappy with the ball change during the third day of the first Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. Sri Lanka had a lead of 24 runs and the score was 146-4 when the ball was changed.
Kamindu Mendis was batting on 33 and Mathew was on 59 at the time. “It looked like they were running out of plans but unfortunately the ball was changed,” Mathews told Sky Sports.
“We were told they didn’t have old enough balls to replace. It changed the entire momentum of the game. You work so hard to get rid of that shine, and we did that. Once the ball was changed, it was a whole different game,” the 37-year-old said ahead of the start of the fourth Day’s play.
“I don’t know which year the balls were,” Mathews added. “You’ve got to have a set of rules where you determine how the ball is going to be changed… I don’t know, but it can be disadvantageous for the batters.” England beat Sri Lanka by five wickets at the end.
“It’s hard to gauge because once the ball was changed, the overheads came into play and the lights came on, and it sort of coincided with both factors,” England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith theorized after the game.
Coincidentally this is not the first time there has been controversy about ball change. Last English summer when Australia were in England for the Ashes during the fifth Test at the Kia Oval in London the ball was changed after 37 overs. However, Australian opener Usman Khawaja questioned the switch to a newer and harder ball.
“A huge blunder that needs to be investigated,” former Australian player Ricky Ponting said at the time. England were trailing 2-1 in the series ahead of the Test however beat Australia by 49 runs in the fifth Test to level the series 2-2.
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