MELBOURNE - South African batsman Mark Boucher was wrongly given out leg before wicket on the final day of the Sydney cricket Test against Australia, said Cricket Australia’s (CA) umpires manager Andrew Scotford.

Australia won the match but lost the series 1-2 to South Africa.

Scotford felt that Boucher was struck on the full by the ball in front of the stumps but that did not mean the umpire should have to presume the ball would have hit the stumps, reports The Age.

Scotford admitted there was some confusion over what umpires were supposed to make of a batsman being struck on the full in front of the stumps. Boucher was given out to a delivery that appeared likely to miss his leg stump.

Peter Siddle had bowled from wide of the crease and his delivery would therefore be likely to have carried on and missed the leg stump.

‘A ball bowled from wide of the crease like Siddle’s would have gone on the line it was and missed the stumps,’ Scotford was quoted as saying by the daily.

The rules were changed in 2003 to allow that an umpire must presume a ball that hits the pads on the full would have otherwise continued on the line it was on, even after bouncing. Before the rule change in 2003, umpires struggled to give lbws when spinners struck batsmen on the full.