Ian Chappell has downplayed concerns over the umpires’ ball change during Australia’s second innings amid widespread furore following the final Ashes Test.
The Australian camp was left fuming after the ball was changed by umpires Joel Wilson and Kumar Dharmasena late on day four when the tourists were cruising at 0-126.
Footage appeared to show the replacement ball handed to England being in much better condition than the older ball, and the home side was able to extract three early wickets on day five to peg Australia back, before bowling the Aussies out just 50 runs short of an epic victory.
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Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was irate at the different condition of the two balls, calling for an investigation into the matter.
However, Chappell was not too concerned that anything untoward had taken place.
“It’s not up to the players, it’s up to the umpires. Whatever they decide, you’ve got to live with it,” he told Wide World of Sports.
“The ball is a ball, whatever is coming down, you’ve got to play it. There’s not much point in getting agitated about it, you’ve just got to play what is coming down.
“You’ve got to be there to know exactly what went on, but my attitude always was that the bowler’s got a ball, he’s bowling it, and you’ve got to play it.”
Chappell’s comments came after Australian opener Usman Khawaja voiced his frustration over the ball change after the end of the fifth Test.
”The first over (after) they changed that ball I knew straight away that this ball is very different,” he said on Nine’s coverage.
“I went up to Kumar and asked ‘how old is this ball you’ve given him’ because it felt like it was eight overs old.
“You could see the writing on both sides and it hit my bat so hard … I mean I’ve opened (in) every single innings this Ashes series and I haven’t felt a ball hit my bat as hard as that ball felt.
All Wickets from Australia’s 2nd Innings of the 5th Test
“I said to the boys coming into it, be careful, this new ball is going to be tricky. It’s going to be a lot harder than that other ball.
“Some things you can’t control in this game and it’s disappointing for us because I felt like we had a real stranglehold on that game.
“Today that ball was 90 overs old and it was still hooping around corners and the keeper was taking it above his head.
“It really hurts you, but England is a class bowling attack and if you give them a little inch they will always get as much out of it.”
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