Cricket Australia (CA) will return to the voting of an expert to decide the man-of-the-match award following the controversy over Monday's Hobart Test. Mobile phone and tablet app-users shunned New Zealand quick Doug Bracewell's match figures of 9-60 and voted Australia's David Warner as best player for his unbeaten 123 in the losing side's second innings. Bracewell polled just 27 per cent of the vote to Warner's 58 in the Vodafone-sponsored arrangement.
"We were always running a bit of a trial for these two Tests with those man-of-the-match awards," CA chief James Sutherland told Radio 3AW on Wednesday. "But we will definitely revert to an expert's choice for that decision about man of the match. "We will still run what the fans think. It has worked really well with the (viewers' choice) application and the television. "It's something really ahead of its time and I'm sure we'll see it in other sports as well in the future."A sheepish Warner said in his acceptance speech that Bracewell's bowling had been fantastic. New Zealand assistant coach Trent Woodhill described the decision to give the award to Warner as embarrassing.
"David Warner had a fantastic innings," Woodhill told Cricinfo. "Doug Bracewell was the player of that match. He took nine wickets for 60. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have won the match. To me, that's who the player of the match should be."The man-of-the-match award was more clear-cut in the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane where Australian pace bowler James Pattinson played a starring role in the home side's victory. Australia host India for a four-Test series starting on Boxing Day at the MCG.