Apex Council issues clarification over controversial 'change of ball' during fifth Test in Ashes 2023

During Australia's second innings of the fifth Test of Ashes 2023, Usman Khawaja got hit with a bouncer from Mark Wood. Before this, the visitors were going well as Usman and David Warner provided a great start chasing 384 runs. After the former got hit, the ball was changed as it was damaged. The newer ball raised the eyebrows of former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting.

He pointed out that the ball looked quite fresh (if not the fresh one). He added that the damaged ball and the replacement were in no way similar. The three-time World Cup winner further added that the older balls weren't even considered.

"The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball that was chosen to replace the one ," Ponting said on Sky Sports. "There's no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way are they comparable.

"At the end of the day, if you are going to change the ball, you want to make sure that you get it right, so as close as you possibly can to the one that you're changing it from. Now if you have a look in that box, there weren't too many older-condition balls in there. There were some older ones that were picked up, the umpires looked at that and threw them back.

We confirm that the balls were selected pre-match: Apex Council

A few days after the controversy, the Apex Council issued a clarification over the umpires' decision during the game.

“The Apex Council does not comment on the decisions taken by umpires in matches. We can, however, confirm that all balls are pre-selected before the start of every match and when the situation calls for it, the match officials choose the ball that is closest to the condition of the ball that is being replaced.”