Both England and Australia have pledged their support for the Decision Review System (DRS) after ICC’s General Manager Cricket, Geoff Allardice met representatives of both the teams and the ICC umpires in Durham, the world body said on Thursday.
“We acknowledge that the DRS has not performed as effectively during the past three Tests as it has in other series. The purpose of my visit was to meet with the teams to listen to their feedback, and to identify potential improvements to DRS moving forward,” said Allardice.
“It was very encouraging to hear both teams reiterate their support for the use of DRS. Some of the ideas that were suggested during the meetings could improve the system, and will be considered further by the ICC,” he said.
Allardice said that the performance of Hot Spot was also discussed. “Hot Spot is an advanced technology that helps us to detect edges. It is conclusive — when there is a mark we know the bat has hit the ball. In working with the operator over several years, we know that the majority of edges are detected by Hot Spot, but there are occasions when a fine edge isn’t picked up,” he said.
“If there is no mark on Hot Spot, the TV umpire can use replays from different angles to see whether the ball has deflected off the bat, and he can listen to the sound from the stump-microphone to determine whether the batsman has edged the ball. Either deflection or sound can be used by the TV umpire to make his final judgement.”
Hot Spot inventor raises concerns
Sydney: An Australian TV channel on Thursday repeated claims that cricketers are using silicone tape on bats to cheat “Hot Spot” readings, saying the inventor has raised concerns with the sports’ s authorities.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) said the claims were incorrect and it was not investigating any alleged attempts by players to “cheat” Hot Spot.
But Channel Nine renewed its allegations on its evening news bulletin on Thursday , saying Warren Brennan — inventor of Hot Spot — had raised his “serious concerns” with the ICC about flaws with the system. “He fears that (silicone) tape used on bats can fool the technology. In short, an edge simply won’t show up,” it told viewers.
Channel Nine said Brennan had met Allardice, earlier this week to express his concerns but the channel said that it was understood that Brennan had been advised by the ICC to “stay quiet about his concerns”.