ICC breaks silence over World Cup final controversy

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has broken its silence over the controversial end to the 2019 World Cup final.

An ICC spokesperson made it clear that it was against their policy to make any comments regarding the decisions made by umpires.

The spokesperson highlighted that the decisions made by the umpires were based on their interpretations of the rules.

"The umpires take decisions on the field with their interpretation of the rules and we don't comment on any decisions as a matter of policy," an ICC spokesperson was quoted as saying by forxsports.com.au.

The World Cup final ended in major controversy on Sunday as hosts England were crowned the new champions due to their superior boundary count after a super over against New Zealand.

An overthrow which deflected off the bat of all-rounder Ben Stokes resulted in six runs which helped bring the match into a super over.

Former umpire Simon Taufel earlier claimed that the on-field umpires made a critical mistake when they awarded England six runs.

“It’s a clear mistake. It’s an error of judgment. [England] should have been awarded five runs, not six,” Taufel told foxsports.com.au.

Taufel believed that since the batsman had not crossed at the time the throw was made, it should have been five runs. This would have resulted in a New Zealand victory.

 “In the heat of what was going on, they thought there was a good chance the batsmen crossed at the instant of the throw,” the 48-year-old Taufel added. “Obviously TV replays showed otherwise. The difficulty you [umpires] have is you’ve got to watch batsmen completing runs, then change focus and watch for the ball being picked up, and watch for the release [of the throw].