Graeme Swann Tees Off At The Mason Crane No Ball Decision

'Open your eyes!'


Article heading image for Graeme Swann Tees Off At The Mason Crane No Ball Decision

Image: Getty

Graeme Swann says the decision against Mason Crane to call a no ball was “disgraceful”, telling the third umpire to “go home”.

Crane had the chance of a first Test wicket taken away, with an England review for an lbw decision seeing him called for a no ball. 

The ball, which Usman Khawaja left alone, hit him on the front pad and was going on to hit middle stump.

Swann believed, when the vision first showed, that Crane was safe and the delivery was legal.

Listen to the audio:

“When his foot lands I reckon there’s half a millimetre behind the line,” he said on Triple M.

“When it first lands, when the toe lands, there’s definitely the smallest amount behind the line."

Things didn’t go that way, though, with the decision heading back on-field and called a no ball.

Swann wasn’t too happy.

“These umpires don’t know what they’re doing!” he proclaimed.

“I swear these umpires are clueless. What are they…it’s so obvious.

“It wasn’t much but there was definitely a millimetre or two of boot behind the line."

"This is absolutely disgraceful third umpiring. Open your eyes!"

He had Kerry O’Keeffe’s backing, with Skull believing Crane was hard done by.

“It’s a legal delivery. Just,” he said.

“He has been slaughtered here, Mason Crane. By human error. They’ve gone upstairs, he’s been the victim of human error, still."

Swann had a few more words for the third umpire who made the decision.

“Whoever the third umpire is, just go home. Get out of the room, let someone do it,” he said.

“It’s like your mum trying to record something on the video recorder, she doesn’t know what she’s doing."

Ethan Meldrum

6 January 2018

Article by:

Ethan Meldrum




Listen Live!

Up Next