Australia captain Ricky Ponting and his England counterpart Michael Vaughan have agreed to try and stop referrals of disputed catches to the third umpire during the Ashes series starting at Lord's on Thursday.
Ponting and Vaughan met match referee Ranjan Madugalle on Wednesday to discuss the Australian proposal that the two on-field umpires accept a fielder's word that he has made fair catch.
"I have just walked out of the referee's meeting 10 minutes ago and had a chat with Michael about that," Ponting told a news conference. "(We) will ask the fielder if he has caught it and it will be left to the umpire to make the decision."
Ponting said he wanted to get away from the situation where disputed catches were referred to the third umpire.
He said the technology involved in television replays was not good enough to enable the extra official to make a definite decision and accordingly batsmen were usually given the benefit of the doubt.
"I think there have only been one or two ever in the history of referrals that have been given out," he said.
"So what I want to do is take it out of the hands of the third umpire and put the onus back on the player and the fielding captain to make a decision."
Pakistan's Aleem Dar and South African Rudi Koertzen will umpire the Lord's Test. England's Mark Benson is the third umpire.
THREE SPOTS
Australia were scheduled to hold an optional practice on Wednesday but will not name their team until Thursday morning.
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Fast bowler Jason Gillespie, who has struggled throughout the tour so far, did not practise on Tuesday because of knee problems but Ponting said he expected he would play a full part on Wednesday.
He also said the choice of the third paceman was not necessarily between the incumbent Michael Kasprowicz and Brett Lee, who has not played for his country since January last year but who bowled impressively quick with late outswing during the two one-day series.
"We have five fast bowlers and only three spots. Shaun Tait has been bowling pretty well," he said.
Australia have not lost at the home of cricket since 1934, a record Ponting has every intention of maintaining.
"I have never lost a game of cricket at Lord's in all the games I have played in, whether it has been a one-day or a Test match," he said.
"All the guys have great memories, it's almost a second home for us."
Asked if he agreed with Glenn McGrath's assertion that Australia could take the series 5-0, Ponting did not hesitate.
"There's no reason why we can't," he said. "If we play as well as we can then that result is possible."
