New Delhi: Twitter has been flooded with hilarious memes after umpire Joel Wilson made various howlers during the first Ashes Test which Australia won by 284 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
On Day Five of the Edgbaston Test, Wilson made two umpiring mistakes for which he had to face wrath on social media.
On Monday, his first error came when England skipper Joe Root was adjudged lbw in the 13th over the fourth innings. However, Root immediately reviewed the decision with replays showing that James Pattinson’s delivery was sliding down the leg side.
The next mistake which the umpire made came in the 17th over, when he again gave Root out lbw off the bowling of Peter Siddle. However, yet again the England skipper used the DRS and replays showed that Root got a big inside edge.
The two on-field umpires, Wilson and Aleem Dar, reportedly made 15 errors in the first Ashes Test, out of which Wilson made 10. Many former cricketers and fans took to social media to express their anger and make memes about Wilson.
“When Joel Wilson gives you out, You just review it,” tweeted former England captain Michael Vaughan.
“We can only conclude Joel Wilson gave that out because he was a bit bored. Not even close,” said one of the fans.
“Seems ironic that Specsavers are sponsoring The Ashes as Joel Wilson is a walking advert for them! 8 decision overturned on his watch now,” tweeted another fan.
Earlier, Wilson’s introduction on the Wikipedia was also altered. “Joel Sheldon Wilson (born 30 December 1966) is a blind international cricket umpire from Trinidad and Tobago. Wilson is currently a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, representing the West Indies. He stands in matches of all the three formats of international cricket – Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is),” Wilson’s Wikipedia page described him.
The term ‘blind’ was removed soon after but that was not the end of it for Wilson as after that his description started with a line that said: “Joel Sheldon Wilson (born 30 December 1966) is not an international cricket umpire from Trinidad and Tobago.” The page has since been rectified.
Earlier, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting also said that best of the umpires should officiate in a top series like Ashes.
“I would like to think the game has come far enough now for the game to not have neutral umpires,” Ponting said.