Ricky Ponting and Usman Khawaja discuss the contentious ball-change.

Usman Khawaja, the opening batsman for Australia, echoed Ricky Ponting's displeasure at the crucial ball-change during the fourth innings of the fifth Ashes Test at the Kia Oval, saying that he "hadn't felt the ball hit my bat as hard" at any other time during the series despite facing more than 1200 pitches over the course of the five Tests.

Khawaja finished the series as Australia's best batsman with 496 runs at 49.60, and as he and David Warner put 140 runs together for the first wicket, they appeared to be making good progress toward their challenging 384-run mark.


However, following the opening delivery of the innings' 37th over, when Mark Wood hit Khawaja on the helmet with a bouncer, umpires Joel Wilson and Kumar Dharmasena altered the ball because they believed it had lost its shape. On the second afternoon following the ball change, only 11 further balls were bowled.

The new ball seemed to be much tougher and newer than the one that had been used before. On the fifth morning, England claimed three early wickets, with Chris Woakes dismissing Khawaja and Warner in back-to-back overs, followed by Wood's slip catch of Marnus Labuschagne. Moeen Ali and Woakes then quickly claimed five more Australia wickets before Stuart Broad, still carrying the replacement ball, put an end to the game
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"I just don't see how two international umpires who have officiated many games previously could be so wrong on that. The question of whether the balls in the box were in proper condition or if the umpires simply picked one they thought would be appropriate to use at that crucial juncture in the game, and maybe the Test match, has to be looked into.