If you were appointing umpires for this Ashes series...

[010203]

It's fair to say the umpires haven't covered themselves in glory this series. There have been calls to have the best umpires officiating in this Ashes series regardless of nationality.

My question is this: If the ICC decided to do away with neutral umpires and you could appoint the best umpires regardless of nationality, who would you have appointed to officiate in each of the 5 tests in this Ashes series?

You can choose nationality neutral umpires if you wish.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I'd probably pick the two biggest one-eyed fans on BF.
And Shane Watson as third umpire.

 

[Kappa]

Shane Watson to umpire lbw decisions.

Joe root to 3rd umpire for low catches.

 

[bumsonseats]

Dave Shepard and Dickie Bird
No need for a third umpire.

 

[Belnakor]

Tbh the guys in this test have done a pretty good job.

 

[melanChronic]

Yep happy enough with Erasmus and Dharamasena. Erasmus is loathe to give anything and Dharmasena tends to lean towards the bowlers, so they just need to be consistent with that. Was very impressed by Erasmus's not out decision on Starc, thought he was plumb but Marais was all over that glove.

Much better than Dar who completely changes the goal posts from day to day, Gaffney who is just guessing half the time, and Wilson who is clearly the worst umpire I've ever seen.

 

[MJG14]

Yep happy enough with Erasmus and Dharamasena. Erasmus is loathe to give anything and Dharmasena tends to lean towards the bowlers, so they just need to be consistent with that.

Yeah, they are both very solid umpires. The two best of the neutral umpires I think, never used to rate Erasmus but he has improved a lot.

Great point on Dar as well. One day he goes full trigger finger while the next day he will give nothing unless it's hitting the middle of middle. So unpredictable and annoying.