Tiffin picks 3 of 5

In a late afternoon bust from Brett Lee, West Indies (WI) collapsed from 314 for 4 to 352 all out. Lee bowled quick and some great in swingers to unsettle the batsmen. Lee returned figures of 5 for 59 with the help of some questionable decisions from umpire Tiffin. Going to the final day, Australia is leading by 350+ runs and well poised to beat WI in the 2nd Test.

WI was sailing comfortably with Chanderpaul and Bravo batting well and showed promise to take WI score past 400+ with out any further wickets but then at this point Tiffin played a very vital part in 3 dismissals. Bravo played one on the leg side and the ball hit the thigh pads and Haddin collected the ball, Lee and Haddin appealed and Tiffin obliged the same and Bravo was visibly upset. The TV replay clearly showed that Tiffin got it wrong. The very next ball Lee sent in a quick yorker and the ball hit the batsmen outside the line of off stump and again umpire Tiffin raised his finger. The very next over of Lee, the same umpire, same delivery and the same result and this time it was Sammy who was unfortunate to take the wrong decision. Lee (Tiffin) took 3 quick wickets and the rest of the tail just perished. In the mean time Chanderpaul, the lone fighter for WI made his 19th hundred.

I feel sad for the WI and do not understand why the umpires are hesitant to refer to the 3rd umpire on close calls. I feel its time that the technology should be used to the maximum to avoid issues like these, which change the course of the match. I am not saying every decision should be referred to the 3rd umpire but i feel the 3rd umpire should get into action if the replay shows that the decision was wrong. After all umpires are human and bound to make mistakes, all the players and umpires are professionals and i am sure will take things in stride and move on if a wrong decision is made and the 3rd umpire reverts the decision.

There has been lot of instances like this in the recent past ( Steve Buckner IND vs AUS, Rudy Kursten Aus vs SriLanka etc etc) and hope ICC will take some decisions on this soon.