Review System is mandatory now
Board of Control for Cricket in India had abandoned its rigid stand on the UDRS, and has recently agreed to the mandatory use of the Decision Review System by the ICC. It has been accepted with a modified version for the international matches for the betterment of the game. The technology will include infra-red cameras and audio-tracking devices
The modified version will contain the Hot-Spot technology but will miss out the Hawk Eye ball-tracker. This means that the LBW decisions would not be within the purview of the DRS.
ICC’s chief executives’ committee recommended to the Executive Board, the mandatory terms and conditions for the DRS which have to be sent for approval. It will now consist of “thermal imaging” and “sound technology”. The executives have agreed to remove the “ball tracker” from the ICC’s original compulsory list of DRS technologies.
The ‘thermal imaging’ technology better known as Hot Spot is now available and will and made mandatory in the DRS. It will mostly be made use of for close catches and edges. For the first time since 2008, India has agreed to use the DRS in a bilateral series when it tours England starting next month. For the England-India series, the DRS will be without the Hawk-Eye ball-tracker and therefore not include leg before decisions.
The BCCI has already agreed to the modified DRS which will have Hot-Spot but not ball tracker. But the use of ‘ball-tracker’ technology in bilateral series has been left for the two Boards to decide by ICC CEC.
In a statement to the press, the BCCI has said “The BCCI has always expressed its willingness to embrace technology, for the betterment of the game. However, the current ball-tracking technology, on which the DRS system is based, is not acceptable to the Board. This position has not changed.”
The BCCI’s view was supported at the ongoing ICC CEC meeting in Hong Kong.
The BCCI does not support the DRS because it feels that it is not 100 per cent accurate. Even Sachin Tendulkar had said that DRS would be more acceptable if it has Hot-Spot technology.
Tags: BCCI, Cricket, DRS, Hot Spot, ICC, Snickometer, Technology, UDRS, Umpire Decision Review System
