Published: Jan 04, 2023, 05:58 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 04, 2023, 06:01 PM (IST)
New Delhi: England captain Ben Stokes is of the opinion that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should get rid of the soft signal in order to avoid controversy and give all the power to the third umpire to make the right decision with the help of all the technology available to him when the decision is referred upstairs.
Stokes took to Twitter to voice his opinion and uploaded a video of an incident that happened in the first day of the second Test match between Australia and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground in order to validate his point.
“ICC should get rid off the soft signal and let the 3rd umpire who has all the technology to make the decision when the on field umpires send it upstairs,all the controversy is always around the soft signal given. This isn’t a comment on the decision FYI,” Stokes tweeted.
ICC should get rid off the soft signal and let the 3rd umpire who has all the technology to make the decision when the on field umpires send it upstairs,all the controversy is always around the soft signal given.
This isn’t a comment on the decision FYI 🤣🤣 https://t.co/rvOeJEfnKF— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) January 4, 2023
The video uploaded by Stokes shows Marnus Labuschagne edging a ball to first slip of the bowling of Marco Jansen and the fielder claimed the catch. The soft signal from the onfield umpire was out before referring the decision to the third umpire as Labuschagne stood his ground and looked confident of the fact that the ball has touched the ground. The third umpire ruled the decision in favour of the batter with replays suggesting that the ball had touched the ground.
This isn’t the first time that the soft signal of the on-field umpire has come under the scanner and as Stokes pointed out, the game might just be lot simpler with the third umpire taking the final call without the soft signal.
