England’s cricket administrators will now hold talks with the International Cricket Council (ICC). They want to improve the technology that drives more informed decision-making on the field for the sport. This decision follows perhaps the biggest umpiring debacle ever on the opening day of the third Ashes Test at Leeds. A huge mistake that sunk the entire Decision Review System (DRS) marred the bout.
In the early part of the match, Australia’s wicketkeeper, Alex Carey, got an extremely controversial reprieve. He guided an obvious waist-high flatter ball from England’s bowler, Josh Tongue. At that time, he was sitting on 72 runs. Things got out of hand after Carey went berserk and scored 106 runs. His 78 off 107 helped anchor the innings, building to their eventual target of 277.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) plans to review and raise the standards of the DRS, particularly in light of this incident. For registered Snicko technology, one of its main purposes is to detect edges. It exposed a profound gap between auditory and visual perception of the edge. Unfortunately, this inconsistency fueled doubts about the efficacy of the technology in high stakes matches.
After the day’s play concluded, England’s head coach Brendon McCullum and team manager Wayne Bentley met with match referee Jeff Crowe to address the issue. The matter was always going to be within the ICC’s review, though Crowe affirmed its return. He reiterated the need for credible, right-first-time decision making in cricket.
“Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing,” – BBG
Immediately after the incident, Carey admitted that he had indeed touched the ball. He stated, “I thought there was a feather or some sort of noise when it passed the bat.” He further remarked, “If I was given out I think I would have reviewed it, probably not confidently. It was a nice sound as it passed the bat.”
This incident has prompted urgency within England’s cricket governance to ensure that similar errors do not occur in future matches. The ECB is looking to work with the ICC to improve technology and procedures that affect match results.
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