Australia vs South Africa: Umpires to be miked up in 1st ODI

Nov 7, 2014

The TV audience will be closer than ever to the decision making process as the  third umpire will be wired up and his exchanges with on field umpires audible to the viewer during the 1st One Day International (ODI) between Australia and South Africa.

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In another attempt to revolutionize cricket, Channel Nine, telecasting the 1st ODI between Australia and South Africa has decided to mike up the third umpire so as to eliminate confusion in the mind of and provide clarity to the TV viewer while a decision is being reviewed according to the Sydney Morning Herald.” Nine executive producer of cricket Brad McNamara was quoted saying, “Rather than just see the umpire’s decision we can get an insight into why they’ve made it or why they’re sending decisions up to the third umpire and what their concerns are.”

The third umpire in this case will only be audible and not visible to the viewer, and if this outrageous attempt proves successful there is high probability of it being practiced during the ICC World Cup 2015, for that reason Channel Nine were eager to try it out at an early stage and according to the general manager of the International Cricket Council this innovation is in sync with the direction they’d like to head in,he was quoted saying “In time that is likely,” ICC general manager of cricket Geoff Allardice said. “Explaining decisions or helping to explain decisions is a path we’d like to head down in the medium term.”

Complete coverage of South Africa’s tour of Australia 2014