Toss that flew over Crowe's head

Match referee goes for a re-toss after failing to hear Sri Lankan skippers call

In 2007, the Kiwi was the head of the playing control team when Australia and Sri Lanka were forced to go through the farce of playing out the final in darkness because the umpires and the match referee refused to acknowledge the rules.

At the Wankhede stadium on Saturday, Crowe had no reason not to hear what Kumar Sangakkara had called at the toss. The former New Zealand skipper’s uncertainty over what the call had been when Mahendra Singh Dhoni had tossed the coin the first time led to a re-toss, during which Ravi Shastri informed everyone present that the call had been ‘heads’.

Heads it eventually was, the second time, as Sangakkara won a crucial toss and opted to bat first. Why exactly a second toss had to be gone through, however, is the big question.

At 2.00 pm, half an hour before the scheduled start, the Wankhede was far from filled to capacity, and the noise levels weren’t deafening enough for someone standing two feet away not to make out what Sangakkara had said. As the coin came down ‘heads’, Dhoni was under the impression he had heard ‘tails’ and told his opposite number, ‘We will bat.’ Sangakkara insisted he had said ‘heads’, so both men turned to Crowe to settle the issue.

The match referee’s presence at the toss is mandatory only to provide authority and clarity in such matters. As luck would have it, Crowe had absolutely no idea what the call had been. With so much uncertainty prevalent, there simply was no option left but to go in for a second toss, an unprecedented move on such a large stage.

The tournament’s host broadcaster insisted that audio-boosts indicated Sangakkara had called ‘heads’ the first time, but former England captain Michael Vaughan insisted he had heard ‘tails’. Whatever be the case, it didn’t show Crowe in the best light. Already having attracted flak for the fiasco that the 2007 final ended in, this is certainly not what the New Zealander would have wanted in another title clash.

On that occasion, technically the match had been completed because Australia had bowled more than 20 overs when darkness enveloped the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown with Sri Lanka in the middle of an impossible run chase. Under the standard playing conditions, Australia had already clinched the title, a fact acknowledged by both captains.

But after a protracted discussion, on-field umpires Aleem Dar – coincidentally, also standing in Saturday’s final – and Steve Bucknor insisted that unless three further overs were completed in near total darkness, the teams would have to return on Sunday’s reserve day to complete the match.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting and his Lankan counterpart Mahela Jayawardene pointed out to the umpires that the side chasing had already batted 20 overs, so the match was over, but their entreaties fell on deaf ears. The incident left the International Cricket Council red-faced, especially with Crowe hinting not so subtly at a press conference that third umpire Rudi Koertzen was responsible for the mess. Consequently, Crowe, the three aforementioned umpires and fourth umpire Billy Bowden were kept out of the first World T20 in South Africa.

It remains to be seen if Crowe’s latest indiscretion will attract any censure from cricket’s world governing body.