Ashes 2019: Michael Vaughan takes a dig at umpire Joel Wilson as England loses 1st Test by 251 runs

England suffered a demoralizing 251-run loss at their fortress in Edgbaston in the first Test of Ashes 2019 at the hands of Australia. The three lions’ batsmen couldn’t escape the ferocious Nathan Lyon spell on the final day and were routed for just 146 chasing 398 runs, with no batsman even reaching 50.

Nathan Lyon routed the opposition with figures of 6/49 which included wickets of Roy, Root, Denly, Stokes, Ali, and Broad, while Pat Cummins picked 4/32 to help Australia go up 1-0 in the five-match series. Apart from Lyon, umpires had a large part to play throughout the Test match as both Joel Wilson and Aleem Dar made multiple mistakes in both the innings, with third umpire Chris Gaffney doing overtime with more than 15 decisions being overturned by him.

Michael Vaughan criticizes Joel Wilson for his terrible umpiring

Joel Wilson, who was officiating in his first match as an ICC elite panel umpire, made more than 10 wrong decisions which had to be overturned by the third umpire as the batsmen and fielders took advantage of the DRS review system. This atrocious umpiring even led to Ricky Ponting, who is Australia’s assistant coach, to call for the end of using neutral umpires in Test cricket.

Even former England captain Michael Vaughan couldn’t resist from taking a dig at the Trinidad and Tobago born official and tweeted, “When Joel Wilson gives you OUT .. You just review it .. #Fact #Ashes”. This came after home team skipper Joe Root went for DRS review twice against Wilson and survived both times.

When Joel Wilson gives you OUT .. You just review it .. #Fact #Ashes

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 5, 2019

David Warner was wrongly adjudged LBW off Broad as replays showed the ball was missing the stumps in 1^st innings, while Smith managed to survive an LBW decision, again of the same bowler. Root was given out when the ball had, in fact, hit the stumps and went to keeper Paine, which was overturned after Root went for DRS.

Steve Smith was named the Player of the Match for his twin centuries (144 & 142) in the match and for rescuing Australia from 122/8 to 284 in the first innings. Apart from him, Matthew Wade also scored a brilliant hundred in the second innings, as the visitors piled up runs on the fourth day, putting pressure on England to survive day five against Lyon on a turning pitch, which they failed to do.