Published: Aug 09, 2013, 11:35 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 25, 2014, 12:39 AM (IST)
The best thing that the ICC can do is to leave everything to the umpires © Getty Images
The Ashes 2013 was supposed to be a compelling battle between old rivals. But so far the talking point of the series has been the imprecision of the Decision Review System (DRS). Sarang Bhalerao talks about certain measures that can be adopted to ensure that correct decisions are made.
There was a perfect instance to eliminate the howler at Trent Bridge when Stuart Broad’s cut went to Michael Clarke at the first slip via wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. Aleem Dar was unmoved, Australia were bewildered. Looking at the replays one wondered why justice wasn’t served to the Australian team; this was a definite howler. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has to ensure that the third umpire steps in during such instances and relays the information onto the on-field umpire. What if Australia had exhausted all their reviews? At the end of the day the essence of having the umpires and empowering them with technology is to achieve near-perfection. This is not some video game parlour where you can play till your coins get over. This is a competitive sport where technological benefits have to be harnessed in order to make it a fair game.
The DRS has been ineffective in certain 50-50 decisions. Hot Spot needn’t necessarily catch the edge on the bat. The Ashes 2013 has given ample evidence for the technology makers to suggest that Hot Spot is still work in progress. The third umpires have taken the aid of stump microphones and the note of discernable motion of the seam to arrive at a conclusion. Fair enough, I would say. Cricketing acumen should be equally important while giving the decisions. The umpires traditionally take a cue from the batsmen’s reaction to gauge whether he is out or not. For instance, most of the batsmen look behind instantly when they edge the ball. When they miss the ball they just do not look behind. If we look at that underlying principle then Brad Haddin did look behind at Trent Bridge. Usman Khawaja didn’t look behind instantly in the third Test. David Warner did look behind at Old Trafford. But Kevin Pietersen didn’t. So it could be said that he mightn’t have hit the ball. These reactions will certainly make the decision-making accurate.
One of the possible solutions is to give a review each for every batsmen that means a total of 11 reviews, like how players get three challenges each per set plus one additional challenge during the tie-breaks in tennis. But players tend to waste the reviews for trivial reasons. That holds up the game and makes it a ludicrous prospect. Another solution could be to empower the umpires with the discretion to use technology as and when they want. Like when they are in doubt better consult the third umpire right away. For instance, consider Khawaja’s dismissal at Old Trafford. Umpire Tony Hill would have been in some doubt while giving the decision like: ‘Has Khawaja hit the ball? If not, how did wicketkeeper Matt Prior collect the ball near shoulder height? I guess Khawaja must have got a thin edge…so I am giving him out.’ Now, at this stage Hill could just take a pause and go upstairs and get his doubts verified. What is happening at the current moment is that the on-field umpires are giving the decision and if the teams are unhappy with it they are free to use up their review. The third umpire on most of the occasions stand by the original decision which on most instances is made having a certain degree of doubt in mind.
It will be interesting to see what the ICC does after seeing the ineffectiveness of technology. The best thing they can do is to leave everything to the umpires. These umpires are the best they have in the business. Why not authorise them with the usage of technology as and when they want?
(Sarang Bhalerao hails from a family of doctors, but did his engineering. He then dumped a career in IT with Infosys to follow his heart and passion and became a writer with CricketCountry. A voracious reader, Sarang aspires to beat Google with his knowledge of the game! You can follow him on Twitter here)
