UDRS : Umpires and captains support review system

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Chumpire! England fury in South Africa as TV official misses Graeme Smith wicket snick Daryl Harper was tonight in the eye of the Wanderers storm as England vowed to make an official complaint over his controversial decision to reprieve Graeme Smith on the way to a crucial hundred. More... Saturday 16th January 2010 England upset at Harper's decision Daryl Harper was tonight in the eye of the Wanderers storm as England vowed to make an official complaint over his controversial decision to reprieve Graeme Smith on the way to a crucial hundred. The South Africa captain had made 15 when third umpire Harper chose not to overrule his on-field colleague Tony Hill's not-out decision for caught behind. England coach Andy Flower subsequently confirmed he was told by match referee Roshan Mahanama that Harper had not turned the volume up on his host broadcasters' audio/video feed to detect a noise which might have indicated Smith had edged the ball. England were convinced they did hear an incriminating sound as Smith flailed an attempted cut shot at a delivery from Ryan Sidebottom which ended up in the gloves of Matt Prior. But Smith survived the decision review system appeal and went on to make 105 out of 215 for two - sharing a second-wicket stand of 165 with Hashim Amla (73 not out) - as South Africa took control on day two of a final Test they must win to snatch a drawn series. Asked whether England intend to make an official complaint over the handling of the decision, Flower said: "Yes we will." He recounted England's querying of the decision-making process with Mahanama, and the contradictory answers they received. "I have seen the referee twice," he confirmed. "I first asked for clarification on the process and he explained that match referee gets a different audio feed to (broadcasters) Sky and Supersport. "We found out that wasn't correct and one audio feed is used for everyone and the second time he said that Daryl Harper had not switched up the volume on his mic, and that is why we have heard the nick but the third umpire hasn't." Flower admitted the apparently comical sequence of events would indeed have been funny, if the stakes had not been so high at such a telling stage of an epic series. "If it wasn't such a serious match for us I would have found it amusing," he said. "I think it's very disappointing. "They said they did not deem it necessary to turn up the volume." Harper has already been under the microscope for some of his previous decisions in this series, notably his on-field gaffe in last week's third Test in Cape Town. There, third umpire Aleem Dar had to correct a caught-behind verdict against Ashwell Prince - whose bat was shown by video replay to be nowhere near the ball. Flower is not yet a full convert to the International Cricket Council's DRS - and his latest experience is hardly likely to help him change his mind. "There are a couple of things we find illogical," he said. "Number one is that we don't use it for no-balls and there have been a couple of incidents when Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Smith have been out to no-balls in this series. "Number two is that Dave Richardson (ICC cricket manager) and Roshan Mahanama before the series explained to us in the absence of a 'snickometer' or 'hotspot', they would use an increased volume on stump mic for catches behind - they would turn up the volume for referrals - and we find it very disappointing they deemed this unnecessary." Flower has no doubt Smith should have been given out this morning. "I have seen it, and it is very clearly an edge," he said. "It was a very important time at the start of the day when we needed early wickets and he is a big wicket. "He has played well this series. It could have been crucial - we don't know what would have happened if he had been out. "Of course, mistakes happen - we all make them - but when there is little logical reason for it then that is frustrating." Smith himself conceded even he heard a sound as the ball passed his bat, but insisted he simply did not feel as if he had hit it. "There definitely was a noise," he said. "But I didn't feel I'd touched the ball, even talking to (non-striker) Ashwell (Prince) as the review was going on I didn't feel the ball hit the bat. "That can happen. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Smith is struggling to come up with any other explanation but made it clear he has been true to himself. He added: "I thought it was my thumb on the bat handle - and I still don't feel like I hit it." Smith has no interest in guessing what may or may not have happened in the third umpire's room. "It's not my job to talk about what the third umpire looked at and heard," he said. "We all knew what technology was available going into the series - that was explained openly and honestly by Dave Richardson - so to be crying over spilt milk now isn't right." Smith is hoping his second successive hundred against England finally sets up a winning position for his team, who have dominated two Tests out of three so far yet still find themselves 1-0 down. "It's a pretty meaningful one," he said of his 20th Test century. "It's been a tough month - having lost a family member (his grandfather died recently) - and things haven't gone as we would have liked. "We've played good cricket but have just lacked the knockout punches."

[DomainK]

Interestingly in West Indies once Harper had kept the tv in zoom mode and hence could not see the ball and ruled not out for lack of evidence. This time he forgot to turn the volume up. Can this clown get any worse? How can such jokers be in the elite panel?

[Ram]

How Daryl Harper still continues to be the elite panel is unbelievable. He has committed blooper after blooper in time as an elite panel umpire.

[cowboysfan]

harper is a terrible umpire and he knows he is not going to last long with the advent of UDRS,he is trying his best to discredit the whole system.

[urbestfriend]

Third class umpires like Harper, de silva , Saheba should never be allowed to sit in third umpires chair. They are blind and deaf. URDS has come into cricket only because of the third class decisions of these third class umpires, so whats the point in allowing them to officiate as third umpires?

[achilles]

I second third your opinion :two_thumbs_up:

[King Tendulkar]

Botham "darryl harper is useless and incompetent" Botham not sitting on the fence here:hysterical:

[DomainK]

Right said.

[Sachinism]

Oh when things go against them then they speak up

[champ]

typical of english men .. we have seen shockers from him before also .. nothing less than when tendulkar was adjudged lbw after being hit on the shoulder .. where were these comments then ?

[DomainK]

typical of english men .. we have seen shockers from him before also .. nothing less than when tendulkar was adjudged lbw after being hit on the shoulder .. where were these comments then ?

He was a good umpire then. He just transformed into a bad one yesterday.

[MUMBAISKIPPER]

Sir Ian Botham we know it

[achilles]

Why don't we name this as the Aus-Lankan Premier League :((

[achilles]

I still remember the "glorious" Hand-before wicket decision he gave for Goddie Tendulkar :((

[achilles]

typical of english men .. we have seen shockers from him before also .. nothing less than when tendulkar was adjudged lbw after being hit on the shoulder .. where were these comments then ?

Touché

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[cowboysfan]

thanks for the info.it would be interesting to see if the poms defy the icc and dont allow the UDRS in home series.

[EnterTheVoid]

'Mark Benson' and 'Steve Bucknor' were 'elite empires' on this very 'elite panel'. Time the gorah' cop some howlers.

[cowboysfan]

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/snick-off-harper-hits-facebook-to-defend-nocatch-call-20100116-mddi.html hmm is all i can say,i sense some home cooking by the saffers.

[teacup]

Ian Chappell on the UDRS

The UDRS, in its latest form, with the predictive path of Hawkeye being utilised, was introduced in November. We were told by the ICC the aim was to eliminate the howler, and hopefully make players more honest. The system has failed to live up to its billing. The bulk of the decisions being reviewed are lbw appeals that are marginal at best. Fifty-fifty decisions have always been part of the game and are generally received magnanimously by players. Now they are being regularly reviewed and the umpire's original decision is, on most occasions, shown to be a good one - one the players would have accepted graciously before the UDRS was introduced. Worse still, players are now reviewing decisions in the hope that the system will make a mistake. A system that is constantly being fine-tuned will have flaws and mistakes will occur. While it's accepted that humans make mistakes, it is sometimes forgotten that so do computers. Rather than encouraging batsmen to walk, the system has influenced them to stay around more and make the sign of the T. Unfortunately, when the system was unveiled, there was mention of poor umpiring but no talk about how to set things right. So far the UDRS seems to be having an adverse affect on umpires, with some even saying it changes their decision-making process. The ICC made a fundamental mistake when it first introduced the third-umpire experiment. It relied on television to provide the tools for the system rather than taking on complete responsibility for the process. This has resulted in certain tools not being utilised in some series, because the television company involved deemed them either unnecessary or too expensive. The ICC should provide all the tools it thinks are required to complete the decision-making process effectively. If they then want to reclaim those costs by including them in the rights fee, so be it; the important thing is every series should be played under the same conditions. So far the UDRS has made a very good case for the process to be taken out of the players' hands. If the aim is to eliminate the howler, it would be better off if the process was under the control of the off-field official, who is more likely to overturn only those decisions where there are obvious mistakes.

For the entire article, please go to http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/444415.html