One of cricket’s most recognisable umpires, Joel Wilson, has been dismissed by the ICC, a decision backed by some telling statistics. Wilson has been at the forefront of numerous contentious calls during his career, many of which involved Australian players. A particularly notable incident occurred during the 2019 Ashes series at Headingley when Wilson declined to give Ben Stokes out despite clear indications from replays that he was.
At that moment, England was chasing a narrow victory with only one wicket remaining, and Australia had exhausted their review options. This controversial decision drew ire from Australian captain Tim Paine at the time, who expressed disbelief that England still had two reviews available.
Wilson’s decision-making has often been scrutinised, with recent statistics revealing an alarming trend—over one-third of his calls that were referred to the Decision Review System (DRS) last year were overturned, the highest rate among his peers. His performance during the subsequent Border-Gavaskar Trophy was also marred by errors, including an incident where he reported Australian spinner Matt Kuhnemann for a suspected bowling action, which was later cleared.
The backlash from the public and cricket community was palpable, especially on social media, following the announcement of Wilson’s axing. Michael Gough, another umpire, has also received non-renewal of his contract with the ICC. To fill these vacancies, new umpires Allahuddien Paleker and Alex Wharf will be stepping into the roles.
In summary, Wilson’s controversial decisions and less-than-stellar performance record ultimately led to the ICC’s decision to part ways with him, highlighting the critical standard expected of officials in the sport.