England needs to stop “messing up” with ‘Umpires Decision Review System’: Swann

CENTURION - England spinner Graeme Swann has said that the team has only themselves to blame for wasting the controversial Umpires Decision Review System against South Africa on the first day of the Centurion Test.

The system allows teams to challenge the on-field officials’ decision by seeking to have it overturned by the third umpire to ensure fair decisions, but once the team gets two referrals rejected, they can have no more in that innings.

England used up their allowance of two unsuccessful appeals an innings by tea, and Swann, one of the culprits, said: “We keep messing it up; we have to get better at it.”

“We decided not to call for caught behinds unless we were certain and we were certain there was an edge. But without ’snicko’ and the thermo-sensor technology, it proved inconclusive and once again we wasted the reviews,” The Daily Express quoted Swann, as saying.

England failed to have an lbw decision against Jacques Kallis overturned, or AB de Villiers given out caught behind - although the latter was out immediately afterwards anyway.

Swann also disputed suggestions, which claimed that England made another mistake in choosing to bowl first.

“Having seen the wicket yesterday and this morning, we were well within our rights and justified to bowl first - and certainly the stats on this ground seemed to back up the fact that bowling first can be very lucrative here,” he said.

“Had a couple of the balls that kept low early on - especially from Graham Onions - cannoned into the pads or flicked the bail, we could be sitting here in a very different situation. We could have had them seven or eight down, or even bowled them out,” he added.

Swann was the most successful bowler for the visiting team, as he picked up his third five-wicket haul in South Africa’s total of 418 runs. In reply England reached 88-1 at stumps. (ANI)