Umpires clarify over Ganguly dismissal at Margao

The controversy regarding the dismissal of Saurav Ganguly, in the last one-day match against the Australians at Margao is still continuing. Both umpires who stood in the game, Subroto Porel and Francis Gomez, hail from Kolkata and Porel's house has been stoned by irate fans.

After making 74, his highest score of the series, Ganguly was caught fending at a short delivery from Glenn McGrath. Television replays later showed that the ball was clearly above his shoulder. The Indian skipper looked from one umpire to the other in an imploring gesture to get the decision reversed but to no avail. Porel pointed out on Friday that Ganguly would have been dismissed anyway since Ricky Ponting had struck the wickets with a direct hit after taking the catch at backward point as the Indian skipper wandered out of the crease.

Porel, who was stationed at square leg, explained that he did not declare the ball illegal because of a pre-game understanding with his partner and match referee Cammie Smith. "A day before the match my partner Francis Gomez and myself had a meeting with the match referee Mr. Cammie Smith. A decision was then taken that the umpire at the bowler's end would declare no-ball under all circumstances. That is why I did not make the call. Moreover, while playing the delivery, Ganguly had advanced a bit and played the shot from an open-chested position. That is why it was difficult for me to judge the delivery."

His partner at the bowler's end, Francis Gomez, however seemed unaware of any such agreement and indicated that he had not declared the delivery a no-ball since there was no signal forthcoming from Porel. Both quite categorically said that if they had committed a mistake, they were ready to accept it. "The controversy should end now. We may have committed a mistake. However, in the course of a match these things do occur."