'Sorry, Ricky, you don’t deserve to be trusted'
What actually happened, though, was farcical—Benson checked with Ricky Ponting, who put up his finger, assuring the umpire that he was sure the catch was clean.How could he give such an assurance? He was in no position to see it, so all he had to go by was the word of Michael Clarke—who could not be sure, either. Besides, Clarke, whose honesty was supposed to decide the fate of a batsman at a critical time, is the same bloke who cut fiercely at a delivery, was caught off the under edge at slip, and stood there hoping the umpires would screw up. You can’t fault him for his hope—the umpires in this game have given enough reason for that. Point though is, Clarke has not exactly been a shining beacon of honesty—and yet Benson took his word, relayed by Ponting, and totally ignored two options that were available, even mandatory.
Sriram Veera is a former staff writer at ESPNcricinfo