Right process was followed, says ICC on Kumar Dharmasena’s controversial overthrow call in World Cup final

The 2019 World Cup final has been more in the discussion for Kumar Dharmasena’s overthrow decision which turned the game decisively in England’s favour. A lot has been said since then with regards to the laws of the game even as Simon Taufel stated it as a clear mistake from the officials. Moreover, Dharmasena himself commented on the matter and also clarified that he discussed with all the umpires involved in the game before awarding six runs to England.

However, even he admitted that it was an error in judgement from him in the middle and also went on to say that he doesn’t regret the decision. The two batsmen hadn’t crossed each other while taking the second run when the throw came and the hosts should’ve been given only five runs. But New Zealand were hard done with the decision and the match eventually was tied. The same happened in the super over and England went on to lift the trophy on the basis of superior boundary count.

Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had cleared that there is a policy set and they are not allowed to comment in public over such matters. But now it’s General Manager of cricket Geoff Allardice has backed Dharmasena’s decision at that point in time while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.

They can’t take such decisions to the third umpire

“They (on-field umpires) had to make a judgement call on the day as to whether the batsmen had crossed when the throw was released. After everything that went on during that delivery, they got together over their comms system and made their decision. They certainly followed the right process when making the decision,” he said.

Geoff Allardice also cleared that the playing conditions didn’t allow the officials to take the matter to the third umpire but also backed the fact that they were completely aware of the law. “They were aware of the law when they made the judgment about whether the batsmen had crossed or not at the time. The playing conditions don’t allow them to refer to such a decision to a third umpire. The match referee cannot intervene when the umpires on the field have to make a judgement call like that,” he further added.