The International Cricket Council have admitted that television umpire Nigel Llong was incorrect in making his controversial decision during the third test between the Black Caps and Australia.
Llong came into the spotlight when the Black Caps reviewed a not-out decision, believing Nathan Lyon was caught at second slip off the bowling of Mitchell Santner.
The Kiwis were confident they would have an appeal for the overturned by the Decision Review System only for the original verdict to remain despite a clear mark on the hot spot technology suggesting he had hit the ball.
Llong uttered the now-memorable phrase of "There's a mark on a bat, but it could come from anywhere."
Lyon was on 0 at the time, and went on to make 34 in a 74-run stand, the biggest of the match, to pull Australia back into the match.
In a series of tweets, the ICC acknowledged that Llong's decision was incorrect.
(1 of 3): ICC has replied to correspondence from NZC relating to the Nathan Lyon DRS review in the 3rd Test.
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) December 1, 2015
(2 of 3): ICC has reviewed the decision and acknowledged that it was incorrect.
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) December 1, 2015
(3 of 3): ICC confirms the umpire followed the correct protocol, but made an incorrect judgment.
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) December 1, 2015
As a result of Llong's blunder, there have been calls for specialist television umpires.
Read more: David Leggat: Llong's decision an absolute shambles
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson confirmed team management sent a "please explain" to the Council over the controversial call, demanding to know how Llong arrived at the verdict which angered the team and baffled many cricket followers.
The coach was at pains to point out the Kiwis did not have any qualms over the technology, just how it was used.
"Technology has got a bit of a bad rap, I don't think there's anything wrong with the technology," Hesson said. "There is a process that needs to be followed with these decisions and we need to make sure that process was followed correctly."
Now that the explanation has been received, New Zealanders will await with interest to see which umpires are assigned to the Sri Lanka test match series, with Llong reportedly a candidate to umpire in the upcoming series.
