Cricket Australia chief praises Ponting for role in tense Lord's Test

Melbourne, July 23 (ANI): Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has praised Australian captain Ricky Ponting for his handling of several tense situations during the Lord's Test.

Sutherland emphasized that he was not questioning whether England captain Andrew Strauss had caught the ball cleanly off Phillip Hughes, but wanted to know why it was not referred to the third umpire as the catch claimed by Nathan Hauritz had been the previous day.

"I did ring [ICC operations manager] Dave Richardson to seek clarification on the referral situation, but in no way was it any kind of complaint. I was seeking to understand the reason for the inconsistency and it was explained to my satisfaction," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Sutherland, as saying.

The ICC then made a statement explaining why only one incident was referred.

"It is simply a question of whether either on-field umpire is able to make the call himself or if he needs advice from the third umpire. If he is confident of the decision then he will make it himself regardless of how near or far away the incident took place," said match referee Jeff Crowe.

Ponting was criticised for confronting umpire Rudi Koertzen after England batsman Ravi Bopara was given not out because of inconclusive replays of the Hauritz catch, but Sutherland said he was proud of Ponting's graciousness in defeat and the way he had conducted himself when forces were conspiring against the Australians.

"I was extremely proud of how Ricky and all the players handled some tense situations," Sutherland said. (ANI)