Was Kasper Out?

Hard done by? ... Steve Harmison's delivery appears to strike Michael Kasprowicz's right hand, not attached to the bat.
It may go down as one of the greatest Test matches ever played but television replays appear to show Michael Kasprowicz was given out incorrectly.

The Australian tailender was deemed out after a Steve Harmison delivery clipped his right glove and flew into wicketkeeper Geraint Jones's waiting hands - sparking a frenzy of delight among English players and fans.

But if there is any consolation for the dispirited Australian team - and millions of their supporters - it is that freeze-frame footage seems to indicate umpire Billy Bowden should not have given the dogged Kasprowicz out.

Slow motion replays appear to reveal that the No. 11's right hand was not in contact with his bat at the precise moment the ball brushed against it.

Cricket rules state that a glove can only be considered part of the bat when contact is made "between the ball and any part of a glove worn on the striker's hand holding the bat".

Australia needed just three runs for victory - and only two for a tie - when Bowden's raised finger ended their chances.

Tailenders Shane Warne (42), Brett Lee (43) and Kasprowicz (20) had already piled on 104 runs and brought their team to within a whisker of winning Had Kasprowicz been given not out, would Australia have pulled off the most remarkable of victories?

We will never know.

Billy Bowden's decision might be reviewed by the International Cricket Council but it would not alter the outcome of the match, ICC spokesman Brendan McClements said.

"The umpire has made his decision. The fact is Kasper's out. The game's finished,"