“Time for a Celebration: The Shocking Stats Leading to Umpire Joel Wilson’s Dismissal”

This week, Joel Wilson, one of the cricket world’s most prominent umpires, was unceremoniously dropped by the ICC, and the figures behind his dismissal might shed light on the reasoning.

Over the years, Wilson found himself at the heart of numerous contentious calls, many of which directly impacted Australian matches.

One of the most unforgettable moments occurred during the 2019 Ashes series when Wilson rejected an appeal for Ben Stokes’ dismissal while he was making a sensational match-winning century at Headingley.

England was chasing a mere two runs to secure victory with just one wicket remaining, while Australia had exhausted all their reviews.

Subsequent replays confirmed that Stokes was clearly out.

“That’s a tough pill to swallow, I must say,” remarked then-captain Tim Paine at the time.

“I simply can’t understand why or how that went unsighted … England still had two referrals left.”

While he often became the target of online ridicule, the statistics surrounding Wilson’s fall from grace might explain the governing body’s choice.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that over a third of Wilson’s decisions that were sent to DRS last year were overturned, marking the highest overturn rate of all umpires.

Wilson also made a number of questionable calls during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last summer and was involved in reporting Australia’s Matt Kuhnemann for a suspect bowling action.

He was subsequently cleared following an official review.

The reaction across social media platforms was predictable after the announcement.

In addition to Wilson, Michael Gough also received notice that his contract would not be extended by the ICC.

The new umpires stepping in will be Allahuddien Paleker and Alex Wharf.