Sydney: The rival captains, Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith, as also International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed had a few things to say about the Super Series and the increased (experimental) referrals to the third umpire. The comments came after the six-day Super Test ended in under three-and-half days. The Telegraph highlights the most significant observations:

On the Super Series

Ponting: A great concept and a fabulous idea...

Smith: You dream of playing for your country and, then, land up in a different environment? It’s hard pushing for that 20 per cent (of passion) when you’re not playing for your country. The scheduling was such that some of us hadn’t played (first-class cricket) for three-four months... I don’t know whether this is the right concept ? perhaps, a bit of tinkering is needed.

[In the three ODIs, the World XI captain was Shaun Pollock.]

Speed: What we put to test is whether a team of champions can beat a champion team... The answer is ‘no’... We did look at options, including a series between the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in both forms. However, we went for a World XI... We never said an event like this would be held every four years and, today, I can’t say whether another edition is going to be held. We were hoping the team concept would replace the national concept, but... The players’ performance was beyond our control, but I don’t believe they came on a holiday. I’m awaiting the report from the World XI coach (John Wright) and technical director Sunil Gavaskar.

On the extended use of technology for umpires

Ponting: It’s hard to straightaway make a judgement... One will have a better idea once we’ve been exposed to it more... Everybody expects all the decisions to be perfect.

Smith: There have been doubts even with the TV replays... Bottomline is it was just an experiment.

Speed: Our approach is going to be cautious... Despite the referrals, the on-field umpire is the one who made the decisions. So, it's wrong to say the human element of umpiring got lost.