'It needs to be investigated': Ricky Ponting fumes over 'huge blunder' by umpires in Ashes

ENG vs AUS 5th Test: The Ashes 2023 brought along a fairytale ending for Stuart Broad who brought the curtains down on his stellar international career by claiming the final wicket of the series. The iconic rivalry between England and Australia never fails to serve mouth-watering cricketing action and the Ashes always lives up to the expectations of people who still find Test cricket intriguing. England were down and out in Ashes 2023 after two Test matches, but how they registered a comeback and gave the Aussies a run for the Ashes is certainly a testament to what 'Bazball' stands for. As far as the Aussies are concerned, they will be thanking the Manchester rains that disrupted the fourth Test and enabled the series to end in a 2-2 draw.

3 things you need to know

• Australia have retained the Ashes for the fourth time in a row
• Ashes 2023 ended in a draw with both England and Australia winning two matches each
• Stuart Broad bowed out of international cricket after the culmination of the 5th Ashes Test

Apart from the riveting cricketing action, the recently concluded Ashes 2023 series was also marred by controversies, be it Jonny Bairstow's dismissal in the 2nd Test or Steve Smith's non-dismissal in the final match, this series will certainly go down as one of the best ENG vs AUS series competed so far. Now another controversy has made it's after Usman Khawaja questioned the umpire's decision of replacing a depreciated ball with a new one in the 37th over.

ALSO READ | Will James Anderson Go Stuart Broad Way And Retire After Ashes 2023? Here's All We Know

Ashes 2023: The controversial ball change 

(Chris Woakes celebrates the fall of Steven Smith / Image: AP)

During the final day of the 5th Test match, Usman Khawaja was struck on the helmet by a Mark Wood bouncer which forced the match officials to replace the damaged ball. The entire thing unfolded in the 37th over. What caught the eyes of cricket Pundits and the Australian cricket team, especially Usman Khawaja was the fact that the damaged ball was replaced with a relatively fresher ball. The rule states that if the ball is to be changed before a stipulated time of 80 overs, then it has to be replaced by a similarly aged one. Since the ball was fresh, the English bowlers got their tails up and started generating more movement than usual. Usman Khawaja and David Warner had already added 140 runs for the first wicket, but as soon as the ball was changed, Warner was the first to depart and fell prey to Chris Woakes.

Usman Khawaja said:

I walked straight up to Kumar and said straightaway, 'That ball looks nothing like the one we were playing with. I can see writing on it. It felt harder than any ball I've faced in this Ashes series – and I've opened the batting against the new ball every single time. I said, 'I don't know what's going on – you've gone from an old, reverse (swinging) ball to a brand-new ball

ALSO READ | Stuart Broad Claims the Final Ashes 2023 Wicket, Wraps up His Phenomenal Career 

Ricky Ponting demanded an investigation and said:

The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball that was chosen. There’s no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way they are comparable. That is a huge moment in this game, potentially a huge moment in the Test match, and something I think has to be investigated. It was a perfect storm, conditions were perfect for bowling this morning.

The former Aussie skipper has lashed out at the match officials and has expressed his concern with how the situation was handled out in the middle. Australia have finally managed to retain the Ashes but they certainly will not be satisfied with how they let the coveted urn slip from their hands.