MELBOURNE: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni might feel that umpiring in the ongoing Test series needs to improve but Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon on Monday said officials have done a good job and a couple of bad decisions should not provoke on-field altercations.

India were at the receiving end of at least five contentious calls in the first two Tests, both of which the visitors lost, prompting Dhoni to state that umpiring could certainly improve.

Lyon said the teams should not fret over umpiring and neither should the players allow it to become a reason for flared tempers.

“You’re going to have to control your emotions out there. In Adelaide too some emotions were flying quite high when a couple of decisions weren’t going either way. But that’s Test match cricket. There are enough emotions out there in the middle. We just have to remain patient and keep working hard and not worry about what the umpire says,” Lyon told reporters here.

He was answering specifically to the point brought up by Dhoni, wherein on Saturday he had commented on the inconsistent umpiring in this ongoing series. The umpiring blunders has triggered a debate on whether the Decision Review System (DRS) should have been used in the series.

“I personally think they’ve done a pretty good job,” Lyon said supporting the umpires, Ian Gould and Marais Erasmus. “It’s been quite tough for them, especially in Adelaide.

“That wicket was pretty tough.

It’s going to swing both ways [with such decisions]. We could have had a different result in Adelaide if we had DRS but in saying that it could have gone our way as well,” he added.

Talking specifically about the DRS debate, he opined, “Both teams have to agree to use it. I know I am definitely not against DRS. I think it is good for the game.

“I don’t have any problem with it. But both teams have to agree to use it,” Lyon replied, when asked about the issues that the Indian players have voiced about DRS in recent days.

Johnson defends psychological games in cricket

MELBOURNE: Never the one to shy away from a showdown, either with the ball or words, Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson feels “psychological warfare” is important to intimidate the opposition on cricket field.

In a new DVD titled ‘Mitchell Johnson: Bouncing Back,’ the pacer, who has tormented India with both bat and ball in the ongoing Test series in Australia, has spoken about the importance of instilling fear in the rivals.

“Sometimes we say stupid things when we’re out there. Sometimes we try and say things that hopefully get into the batsmen’s heads a little bit. We try to get them to think about their feet, or just let them know you are going to bowl another short ball. It’s all mind games,” Johnson said.

“Sometimes it might look a little different on TV. It might look as if we’re going a bit too hard at each other, and sometimes it could be a bit over the top. But we’re always trying to stay inside the guidelines,” the fast bowler stated.

Johnson was involved in an on-field spat with the Indians in the second Test in Brisbane where the visitors’ attempts at sledging him backfired badly.

The tearaway bowler smashed 88 runs and came back to grab four wickets to help Australia win the match and take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Johnson feels aggression channelled well can yield good results. “If you can get into someone’s mind by speaking to a batsman and tell them that their feet aren’t going anywhere, hopefully they’ll start to think about that.

“You then bowl a short one at them, and you’re in their head. I love that part of the game. I think it’s great. And I don’t think it’s ever going to stop,” Johnson said.

Published in Dawn December 23th , 2014