Embracing technology would lift spirit of cricket

[King]

It took 24 hours for the phone to ring after writing that the use of technology for umpiring decisions should be restricted to line calls alone until both the technology and the referrals system were perfected, writes Mark Nicholas. More... Embracing technology would lift spirit of cricket By Mark Nicholas Last Updated: 1:30am BST 03/09/2007 Page 1 of 2 Have your say Read comments It took 24 hours for the phone to ring. Twenty-four hours from writing last week that the use of technology for umpiring decisions should be restricted to line calls alone until both the technology and the referrals system were perfected. The call came from Martin Crowe in New Zealand, whose work as a television producer pays every bit as much attention to detail as his glorious batting used to do. In pictures: Fifth ODI at Old Trafford Match report: England woe magnified by Flintoff worry "Aren't you being a bit simplistic?" he began. "I was leaning towards umpires having greater access to all technology, including Hawkeye," he said, "but it was clearly and rightly pointed out by the ICC that umpires would then refer to it for every decision, slowing the game down terribly. The solution must be to use technology via a player challenge system as in tennis. That way the worst umpiring gets policed and the best still stands," he added. Here is the rub. "The key though is to offer all the best technology to the third umpire, not just the stuff available at the moment for the benefit of television viewers, and for a proper, transparent system of referrals to be in place to test it." Fair enough, I thought, but how? Crowe sits on the MCC's influential World Committee, which next meets after the Twenty20 World Cup final. Along with Paul Hawkins, who invented Hawkeye, and Gary Franses, the producer of Channel 4 cricket who brought Hawkeye to our screens, he will present a paper on the use of technology in cricket. He has convinced me that it has to happen, partly because the umpires feel victimised and have lost confidence and partly because he believes - and Mr Crowe is no idealist - that a convincing system would lead to the players policing themselves more than is the case now. Anything that leads to the players having a greater awareness of the spirit of the game is worth pursuing. At the core of his proposal is a series of meetings with Hawkins about Hawkeye's 'predictive path' - the mysterious bit after the ball hits the pad - which Crowe has long believed to be the flaw of an otherwise brilliant invention. When he ran Sky TV's cricket coverage in New Zealand he refused to buy it because, in his view, it was neither consistent nor accurate. Now Hawkins is considering dropping the 'predictive path' and developing the 'actual elements'. This has so excited the ICC that a joint venture is being investigated. Understandably, the ICC would go into partnership with technology only if it was accurate, reliable, cost-effective and practical. And it would need Hawkeye to work in conjunction with a new player challenge system, one that had far more thought given to it than the experiment of referrals in county cricket this summer that has seen not one umpiring decision overturned. Frankly, any system of referrals without Hawkeye is doomed because the third umpires have so little to go on. Neither are Crowe or the ICC in a hurry. Ideally, all the full member nations would trial a new system in their next domestic season with a view to a first full look in international cricket for September 2008. Third umpires will be given all the elements of Hawkeye except the "predictive path", super slow-mo replays, the Snickometer and/or Hot Spot. He will get the delivery from the umpire's position, the bowler's position, the square-leg angle and the wicket-keeper's position. The aim is to achieve this within 15 seconds - and remember that all these points of view are to be umpire-dedicated, not viewer-driven - by a specific television technology package that is accepted by networks all around the world. As in this season's Friends Provident Trophy, each team will have three challenges per innings. These will be exercised by the fielding captain or the batsman himself at the moment of the decision against him and without influence from the dressing room. If the on-field umpire's decision stands, the team lose one of their challenges. All the captains, players and coaches will be fully briefed and walked through the process before it is trialled. Collaboration is essential. Perhaps this is the most promising achievement so far, that the ICC are prepared to work with Crowe and the MCC's World Committee as well as Hawkins. For too long the many forces of cricket's complicated structures and power bases have worked against each other. If they come together and establish a system in which the game at large truly believes, well, who knows, the word of a player may even become his bond once more.

[King]

I'll be so glad when this happens. Another ridiculous loop hole will then be off the sport and it can be enjoyed better with technology. I hope Martin Crowe is able to convince the ICC to invest in this one.

[Chandan]

I too hope so!