‘Spirit of cricket died’: Netizens fume after umpires hand England a new ball after 36 overs in Ashes 2023

The final day of the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval is up for fiery finish. Australia are 146 runs away from victory and their first Test series win in England since 2001 while England need six wickets to level the series. The first session of the day saw brilliant action as 103 runs were scored and the hosts managed to pick three wickets. England had a chance to dismiss Steve Smith at the stroke of lunch but Ben Stokes fluffed the ball while celebrating the catch.

While that could turn out to be a huge moment in the game, England are being targeted on social media over spirit of cricket term for yet another incident as well. For the unversed, the ball was changed in the 37th over of the innings late on the fourth day when a bouncer from Mark Wood hit Usman Khawaja on the helmet. Even as the physio checked the batter for concussion, the umpires checked the ball and called for a replacement.

However, the replaced ball looked a lot newer compared to the old one with even former Australia captain Ricky Ponting also questioning the same while on air during the day’s play. “Definitely looks a lot newer than the previous one,” Ponting said while commentating. Play stopped in the next over itself due to rain and never resumed. The newer ball under overcast conditions moved a lot on the fifth morning and England benefited from the same picking up three quick wickets in the first hour.

Interestingly, the newer ball incident got highlighted after Australia lost a cluster of wickets with even Glenn Maxwell raising his eyebrows looking at the red cherry. Things have turned fiery on social media at least with the fans calling out England over spirit of cricket, the term that has been used quite often in last few months. Here are some of the reactions;

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