Umpiring in the 1970–71 Ashes series

The England team disputed several umpiring decisions in the 1970–71 Ashes series, Ray Illingworth, Geoffrey Boycott and John Snow in particular. After the series Boycott and Snow were called to a disciplinary hearing at Lords over their behaviour, and Illingworth and Snow never toured again. Only three umpires were used; Lou Rowan, who was most involved in the controversy, and his colleagues Tom Brooks and Max O'Connell who both debuted as Test umpires in the series. At the time, umpires had no recourse to slow motion replays and had to make decisions based on what they saw in a split second, with the benefit of the doubt always going to the batsman. As a result it was not uncommon for umpires to make mistakes, which over the course of a long series tended to cancel each other out. The bes

Umpiring in the 1970–71 Ashes series

The England team disputed several umpiring decisions in the 1970–71 Ashes series, Ray Illingworth, Geoffrey Boycott and John Snow in particular. After the series Boycott and Snow were called to a disciplinary hearing at Lords over their behaviour, and Illingworth and Snow never toured again. Only three umpires were used; Lou Rowan, who was most involved in the controversy, and his colleagues Tom Brooks and Max O'Connell who both debuted as Test umpires in the series. At the time, umpires had no recourse to slow motion replays and had to make decisions based on what they saw in a split second, with the benefit of the doubt always going to the batsman. As a result it was not uncommon for umpires to make mistakes, which over the course of a long series tended to cancel each other out. The bes