Former England captain Michael Vaughan has openly shared his disappointment after a serious umpiring mistake was revealed in the fifth and final Test of the Ashes 2025-26 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney. The renowned commentator described this as unacceptable in modern cricket and said that technology should never allow such mistakes to happen.
Michael Vaughan hits out at snickers and no-ball errors in 5th Ashes Test
Vaughan was talking about the dismissal of Harry Brook in England’s second innings in the New Year Test, which Australia won by five wickets on Thursday, January 8, to win the series by a comfortable 4–1 margin. Well, on the fourth day at the SCG, England were in a strong position at 219/3 when Beau Webster had Harry Brook out LBW for 42.
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That wicket was the turning point of the match for England, as they could only take a small lead of 36 runs and give Australia the lead in the final Ashes Test at the SCG. Later replays revealed a clear case. Webster had bowled an illegal ball, with his back foot outside the return crease. Despite this no-ball was not given.
The third umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, failed to pick it up, even though the law clearly states that every wicket-taking ball must be checked for both front-foot and back-foot no-balls. If the error had been noticed, Brook would have been recalled, as the wicket would not have counted.
Vaughan demands action after England’s defeat in final Test
After Brook’s dismissal, England completely lost their rhythm. Soon after this the innings fell apart and the team could only add 124 more runs. That collapse left Australia with a modest target of 160 runs, which they easily achieved within 32 overs on the fifth day to retain the Ashes on home soil.
The disappointment increased further the next day when another decision went against England. During Australia’s chase, Jake Weatherald appeared to edge the ball from Brydon Carse. Once again, the decision went up, and Dharmasena gave Weatherold a lifeline, citing not enough evidence of a clear spike on Snico.
Carse looked very angry with this call and England captain Ben Stokes was also angry. After the Ashes ended, Vaughan made it clear that England would not use these decisions as an excuse for losing the Ashes, but he stressed that such mistakes should not be repeated.
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This is not acceptable in this era: Vaughan criticizes poor umpiring at SCG
News Corp quoted Michael Vaughan as saying, “I don’t think England will use decisions like this as an excuse as to why they didn’t win the Ashes, but basically, we’re in 2026. With all the technology, it shouldn’t be happening. To think that a few back-foot no-balls were bowled down the wickets and nothing was done; that’s not acceptable in this era.”
Despite all the technology available, missing back-foot no-balls on wicket-taking balls is simply not acceptable. He questioned whether the third umpire is consistently checking these no-balls and reminded everyone that it is the basic duty of officials to know and enforce the rules.
Vaughan said, “It should not happen. This is a big moment. Is the third umpire looking for a backfoot no-ball or not? They are the umpires of the game; they should know every rule. It is a no ball; it should have been called.”