South African Marais Erasmus and Sri Lankan Kumar Dharmasena will be the on-field umpires for the remainder of the Ashes series in the United Kingdom.
The first Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham and third at Headingley in Leeds were riddled with errors from Pakistani Aleem Dar, New Zealander Chris Gaffaney and West Indian Joel Wilson.
Wilson and Gaffaney had eight and seven decisions overturned at Edgbaston and Headingley, respectively.
“I would like to think the game has come far enough now for the game to not have neutral umpires. People might say that with all the technology we’ve got now, it doesn’t matter that much,” said former Australia captain Ricky Ponting earlier this month.
“But it’s not a good spectacle when pretty obviously wrong decisions are made. It has already been spoken about a lot among the players. Surely English umpire Richard Kettleborough and the like would want to be umpiring the best series.
“The best umpires can end up missing out on all the big tournaments. It could force umpires into retirement a bit early.”
Erasmus and Dharmasena officiated the World Cup final between England and New Zealand at Lord’s in London earlier this year.
The Ashes series is currently locked one-all. Australia won the Birmingham Test on the back of successive centuries from batsman Steven Smith. The Lord’s Test was drawn. A superb century from all-rounder Ben Stokes, in collaboration with defiant tail-ender Jack Leach, carried England to triumph in the Headingley match.
The fourth Test will be played at Old Trafford in Manchester from 4 September. The Oval in London will host the final fixture.
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