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'Abominable depths' Sri Lankan media criticizes umpiring standards
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Sri Lankan newspapers Tuesday accused cricket umpires of faulty decisions favoring Sri Lanka in its victory by an innings and 28 runs against England the day before. "Umpiring standards plunged to abominable depths," The Mirror said in its match report with the headline: "Dubious umpiring mars Sri Lanka's victory." Sri Lanka defeated England in the first of the three test series Monday. "The umpires gave at least five controversial verdicts against England batsmen," the paper said. The state-run Daily News acknowledged wrong umpiring, but said: "If England felt a few umpiring decisions went against them they cannot be blamed." "With so much of turn from the ball and close-in fielders hovering around the bat it was a hard task for the umpires to carry out their duties under extreme conditions," the paper said. England suffered a number of doubtful decisions from umpires Peter Manuel of Sri Lanka and A.V. Jayaprakash of India during its emphatic innings and 28 runs defeat. The standard of umpiring has already come under attack from English cricket officials. "This victory will always have a sour taste," said Ian Botham, the former England all-rounder. "In situations like this, it is essential you have the best umpires available. I am afraid the men standing in this test were well short of the standard required," he told Sky Sports Monday. "I don't know if I'm allowed to comment on these things or not. Some of the standard of umpiring, some of the appealing, some of the running on the wicket and the whole thing that went on in this game wasn't needed," England captain Nasser Hussain had said after the defeat.
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