It was supposed to be the answer to all of our prayers, but the Decision Review System has proved to be as popular as Tony Abbott at a feminist rally.
A system designed to make life easier for players, umpires and fans has only added to the confusion and frustration it was supposed to eliminate.
Three years after the DRS was introduced into Test cricket, it's time for the ICC to make some tough decisions (the kind of decisions they normally run from faster than Usain Bolt out of the blocks).
Either they make changes to the DRS or scrap it completely.
Here are two changes that must be made:
1) Eliminate Hot SpotThis chicken-sponsored technology has proven to be incredibly unreliable this summer, highlighted by the Graeme Smith incident during the second Test in Adelaide. Smith was initially given out caught behind by the on-field umpire, but was given a reprieve on review after Hot Spot showed no mark as the ball past Smith's bat. But two frames later, with the ball now well on its way to the wicketkeeper, Smith's bat lit up like a Christmas tree. A similar thing happened to Mike Hussey in the same match and David Warner at the WACA just a few days later. Where did those white marks come from? And how can we differentiate them from the ball hitting the bat?
2) Give each team just one unsuccessful referral eachThe DRS was introduced to eliminate 'howlers', yet most referrals come from 50-50 decisions. If the players on the field need a 10-second discussion to decide whether or not to send a decision upstairs, it's not a howler. Unless they are 100 per cent certain that the wrong decision has been made, players should curse their chosen deity and then get on with the game. Giving each team just one referral will reduce the number of 50-50 decisions that are sent upstairs.
Even if these adjustments are made, the thought of scraping the DRS all together has its appeal.
Apart from the confusion and frustration it has brought to the game, the DRS has taken the theatre out of cricket.
Gone is that wonderfully dramatic moment when a wicket falls. When the bowler and his 10 supporting actors appeal at the top of their lungs, the umpire slowly raises his finger and the disconsolate batsman trudges off the ground.
Like the third wheel on a first date, the DRS has killed the moment.
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10 Comments
Sounds awfully like an Indian demand to me!!!!!!!
ReplyYes, all test matches now should only have Indian umpires. It was #$%$ from the start
ReplyWho the hell is Martin Smith and whot is his greatest claim to fame ? ( Sorry, I forgot he is a noted teenaged journalist who knows jack-s**t about anything)
2 RepliesAuthor of article is out LBW. The number of Hotspot errors fades into insignificance compared to some of the umpire 'howlers' during the recent England - India series. The system might need some refining, but it works very well in my view
Replyyour an idiot Smith. DRS gets it right far more times than the human eye/ear. Maybe 5% of DRS proves wrong. Yesterday we saw 2 LBW human decsions that were wrong. After a 5 day match all but you, apparantly, want correct decisions. DRS itself adds to the theatre of test cricket
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