Sorry to Harp on about this but... is umpire Daryl South Africa's Man of the Series?

DARYL HARPER. What a man. The television umpire who failed England so badly on day two of the final Test at The Wanderers yesterday, was at it again this morning.

The 57-year-old Australian (right, showing what a character he is with fellow umpire Asad Rauf) who failed to turn his volume button up, thus allowing South African captain Graeme Smith to progress from 15 to a match-changing 105, reprieved AB De Villiers twice this morning after he had been given out by the on-field umpires.

And just before lunch he turned down Graeme Swann's plea for the wicket of Mark Boucher, LWB. Harper was right each time. But he seems to be England's bogeyman right now, with every decision going South Africa's way.

De Villiers enjoyed all sorts of luck as he attempted to dig his side out of the hole they had dug for themselves this morning.

First Hashim Amla, looking set for his second century of the series on 75, was out on the tenth ball of the day, caught behind by Matt Prior off a superb ball from Stuart Broad.

Six balls later, Jacques Kallis was gone, brilliantly taken by Jimmy Anderson on the dive off Ryan Sidebottom. Getting Kallis for 7 was a big bonus for England and at 217-4 the tails were up.

After a brief lull, Andrew Strauss turned to Graeme Swann, as he has all series, for the breakthrough. And with his first ball - it's becoming a habit - he had JP "Crash Test" Duminy caught by Collingwood and it was 235-5.

Swann then had De Villiers given out twice - on 11 and 24 - by New Zealand umpire Tony Hill. But De Villiers called for a review both times. The close catch on 11 may or may not have brushed the bat, the lbw on 24 was not out. But given that shocker yesterday - Harper failed to hear the Smith snick which echoed around the cricket-speaking world - you might expect a bit of help from the man!

AB De Villiers, who survived having the ball come to rest against his stumps without removing a bail (much to Paul Collingwood's chagrin) and a further apparent edge behind, made it through to lunch with 43 off 99 balls, the always-dangerous Mark Boucher went to his fifty just before lunch after surviving Swann's LBW review.

At 324-5 at the break, South Africa are 144 ahead and these two have put on a vital 89.

For the first time in this Test, England threatened to win a session. But those three early wickets were not enough to make any difference to the eventual outcome. As long as the Highveld thunder storms stay away, this one is South Africa's, the series will be tied 1-1 and the hosts will retain the Basil D'Oliviera trophy they won in England three years ago.

Meanwhile Harper - backed by the ICC this morning - has turned to Facebook to justify his position.

After yesterday's knob-twiddling sensation he posted these quotes on his site: "The truth about Smith's decision may come out eventually. The host broadcaster didn't provide the appropriate sound to match the picture. The commentator, Matthew Hoggard, told the viewers that there was no sound - so Smith would be given not out.
"Sadly when the technology fails... and that means that some engineer has failed to do his job... they must find a scapegoat, and the umpire is an easy target because we can't fight back... usually.

"Five minutes later, they found a sound and blamed me! Other networks found the sound immediately, but we didn't get their sound feed."

Good defence Daryl, but how about coming to speak to us in the press box. Just a gentle chat. If you can comment on Facebook, surely you can talk to the journalists?

England, without any reviews left, have asked the ICC to reinstate the one wasted during the Smith controversy yesterday.

Do you blame the knob in the umpire's room... or Daryl Harper? Furious England head off to do the rain dance

DARYL HARPER, the controversial Australian umpire, could be in hot water with the ICC after he failed to hear an edge from South Africa captain Graeme Smith which echoed around the world on the second day of the final Test at the Wanderers today.

Afterwards Smith himself admitted: “There was a noise. Definitely. But it could have been my thumb against the bat. It doesn’t take the gloss off my century.”

Harper, no stranger to technological blunders – he once claimed he couldn’t see the ball on a replay screen in the West Indies and just yesterday failed to spot a potential no-ball when Alastair Cook was given out LBW – apparently failed to turn his audio feed up and couldn’t hear the obvious snick which saw Smith let off on 15.

Smith went on to score a superb 105 and was out shortly after lunch before a huge storm stopped play with South Africa 208-2, 28 ahead of England’s 108 with eight wickets in hand. Smith finally fellow to birthday boy Sidebottom, 32 today, and Prior but by then the damage had been done.

SABC spokesman Neil Manthorpe, a British-born commentator, said: “Unfortunately Daryl had his feed volume turned down to four out of ten.

“We all get the same feed, ESPN, SABC and Sky. We all heard it. He just didn’t realise. And it’s been like that for the whole Test match. It was all about twiddling a knob in the umpire’s room.”

The question nobody dared asked England boss Andy Flower afterwards was: Do England blame the knob in the umpire’s room or Daryl Harper? Flower said: “It’s disappointing. If this wasn’t such an important Test match it would have been amusing.

“We spoke to the match referee several times today. The first time he said Harper had a separate audio feed to Sky and SABC. We then established they all share the same feed. And when we went back, they told us about the volume level.

“Apparently they thought four out of 10 was sufficient. It’s obviously a problem”

With the ICC set to release a statement and the SABC taking two hours over their press release, an employee from Octagon, who provide the technical expertise for coverage the Wanderers, said: “Harper should have realised. They say he couldn’t hear the thunder when the storm broke over the ground later in the day.”

Ryan Sidebottom, who bowled the fourth over of the day, had no doubts. Nor did England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who took the catch. But after New Zealand umpire Tony Hill failed to react to a universal appeal, England skipper Andrew Strauss called for an immediate review.

England’s players were clearly shocked when Harper, high in the stands in the umpire’s room, said he had heard nothing. The 58-year-old has to rely on the audio feed from the wicket microphone as South Africa does not have hot-spot technology in place for a suspected edge.

But former England seamer Matthew Hoggard said: “We all heard it You just had to twiddle with the volume control. Nobody can understand what happened, but it is difficult without hotspot technology.”

And Pommie Mbangwa, the former South African player in the commentary box said: “It was out, everybody knew it was out. We all heard the noise. Except Harper.”

While text messages flooded in from around the world claiming they had heard the snick, Harper chose not to make an appearance, preferring to wait for the ICC statement.

Meanwhile out on the flooded pitch, miracles were being worked by men with brooms (above) and two mechanised Super Squeegies. The flooded ground was miraculously dried and three hours and 18 minutes after that huge cloudburst drove us into the back of the stands seeking cover from the deluge and crashing thunder. If only Harper's mike was as efficient.

Resuming on 208-2 at 5.30 local time (which is when play is scheduled to close on an ordinary day here), Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis were put under pressure by Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad. But the rain soon returned and South Africa went off at 215-2.

Afterwards Flower, amid the accusations and counter-accusations over Harper’s knob, said: “The key to getting back in this match is to take early wickets tomorrow.”

In reality of course, the rain dance will take place in the Sandton Sun tonight. Attendance compulsory. It’s England’s only hope.