Kevin Rudd tweets disgust at umpiring decision

KEVIN Rudd has tweeted his disgust at the dreadful umpiring decision that cost Usman Khawaja his wicket in the Third Ashes Test.

TALK about appealing to the masses. Kevin Rudd has tweeted his disgust at the dreadful umpiring decision that cost Usman Khawaja his wicket in the Third Ashes Test.

Although not a cricketing tragic like former prime minister John Howard, Mr Rudd knows, like Julia Gillard before him, that it never hurts to be seen as being interested in the one game that unites all Australians.

And what better opportunity to make a statement that no Australians would dream of disputing than to criticise the comedy of errors that led to Khawaja being given out caught behind for one at Old Trafford?

There was no Hot Spot evidence to support Kiwi umpire Tony Hill’s guilty decision nor, when the audio from the stump microphone was married to the television footage it showed that whatever sound was made it wasn’t the edge of Khawaja’s bat hitting the ball.

“I've just sat down to watch the test. That was one of the worst cricket umpiring decisions I have ever seen. KRudd”, the Prime Minister tweeted.

I've just sat down to watch the test. That was one of the worst cricket umpiring decisions I have ever seen. KRudd

— Kevin Rudd (@KRuddMP) August 1, 2013

Just to drive home how bad the decision really was, the betting agency Sportsbet refunded all bets on how many runs Khawaja might score.

And just to add to Australia’s sense of outrage, opener Chris Rogers was out immediately after an interruption to play when a doddery spectator wearing an MCC tie tried to open a door in the pavilion directly in the line of the batsman’s sight, breaking his concentration. The very next ball, the left-hander played all around a straightening delivery from offspinner Graeme Swann and was out 16 runs short of what would have been a maiden Test century.