Ashes 2019 | Ricky Ponting calls for ditching “neutral umpire” system after Edgbaston mess up

DRS was the biggest saviour for the Aussies yesterday as the umpires were giving decisions at their own mercy. There were as many as seven wrong decisions on Day 1 by umpires Aleem Dar and Joel Wilson, and that added to the frustration of both sets of fans. Ricky Ponting, who was observing all these from yards distance on his capacity as the batting coach of Australia, is not at all impressed by this.

"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. But it's not a good spectacle when pretty obviously wrong decisions are made. There's been a lot a negativity about the DRS over the years, but we're pretty lucky that we had it last night," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

Not only the Day 1 of the Ashes, the umpiring standards were also in the spotlight after the World Cup final between England and New Zealand at Lord's last month, with Ben Stokes being awarded an extra run by the standing umpires in the 50th over of the home side's chase, which ultimately ended up influencing the final result. Ponting said that the standard of umpiring is taking a toll on the game and he would raise the voice his opinion in the MCC meeting to employ best umpires for big games.

"It's already been spoken about a lot among the players. If it's not brought up, I'll make sure it's added to the agenda. 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,” Ponting added.