‘Something has to be done, this is ridiculous’: Warne slams BBL farce

The cricket community has erupted after yet another “dreadful” umpiring decision, and now Shane Warne has voiced his frustration.

Tom Cooper's dismissal against the Adelaide Strikers.

Oh dear, not again …

The cricket community has erupted after yet another “dreadful” umpiring decision, on this occasion during Wednesday evening’s clash between the Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba.

Once again, countless fans and players have called for the Decision Review System to be introduced to the T20 tournament, eradicating the threat of umpiring “howlers”.

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During the run chase in Brisbane, Heat batsman Tom Cooper attempted a reverse sweep off Striker spin bowler Danny Briggs in the 12th over.

Cooper only managed to bottom edge the ball onto his pads, and Briggs appealed loudly for LBW.

Unfortunately, on-field umpire Tony Wilds seemingly did not see the large deviation off the bat, and incorrectly awarded the dismissal.

Oh my... HOW was this given out?!?! 😱#BringtheHEAT #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/QpvSKYc8vq

— Brisbane Heat (@HeatBBL) December 23, 2020

The decision understandably frustrated Fox Cricket’s commentary team, most noticeably Australian icon Shane Warne.

“He’s hit it, didn’t he?” Warne asked.

“Oh my goodness! What is going on with this umpiring? Something has to be done, this is ridiculous.

“Enough is enough. We’ve seen too much of this.

“If we want to take this competition seriously, we’ve got to have DRS. Cricket Australia just have to pay for it. We can’t have these decisions.

“I feel for Tony, he’s just made a mistake, but we’ve seen too much of it. If we want this competition to be up there with the best competitions in the world, I’m sorry, but it’s not fair to us here at Fox, or at Channel 7 the rights’ holders, to pay for DRS. It’s a Cricket Australia competition.

“We feel for these guys, it’s nothing personal against each of the umpires … we know the umpiring position is such a tough job.

“But we just can’t have these decisions and mistakes. It’s human, we’re going to make mistakes, but we need to have DRS.”

Danny Briggs of the Strikers celebrates taking a wicket.

The umpiring blunder inevitably sparked plenty of backlash on social media as well.

But there was an uncanny feeling of deja vu – just 24 hours earlier another Big Bash umpiring howler had sent cricket fans into a wild frenzy.

South Australian pace bowler Chadd Sayers tweeted: “Worst decision I’ve seen!”

Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody posted: “Please DRS please, just use the technology on hand!”

England bowler Kate Cross tweeted: “Surely the BBL needs to get DRS in?! Some absolute howlers this year.”

AAP sports reporter Scott Bailey tweeted: “Has the case for the DRS in the Big Bash ever been stronger?”

Not again 🤦🏻‍♂️

— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) December 23, 2020

Mix dreadful umpiring with a dreadful lack of DRS and you have a dreadful product. One of the worst LBW calls I've ever seen #BBL10

— Ryan Elliott (@RyanEJourno) December 23, 2020

Terrible umpiring all the way at #BBL10 this year. Need to bring in DRS soon or this is gonna get all the more messy.

— Siddarth Srinivas (@sidhuwrites) December 23, 2020

Wow. There have been some true howlers in the #BBL10 and that was one of them...

— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) December 23, 2020

Get them to umpire themselves. Can’t be worse. #BBL10

— Adam White (@White_Adam) December 23, 2020

WHAT THE HECK! Here is an idea: find the money for the DRS, and you’ll make the money back and then some, from fans that switch the game back on and start attending matches again! Or just replay those ones - you don’t even need DRS 😬 #BBL10

— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) December 23, 2020

READ MORE: Warner’s fate revealed in huge blow

The umpire’s error may have cost the Heat a chance at victory, with the hosts falling just two runs short of the 151-run target.

At one stage Brisbane had crumbled to 8/68, but a phenomenal knock from Jimmy Peirson (69 not out off 36 balls) almost steered the Heat towards an unlikely victory.

Meanwhile, Briggs finished with superb figures of 3/20 off four overs.

The Heat are still searching for their first win of the season, having now lost three consecutive games.