In a first-of-its-kind move, the International Cricket Council will begin testing a new no ball technology next week in the Eng vs Pak ODI series starting Wednesday, reports Cricket.com.au.
The trial will see the on-field umpire referring to the third umpire regarding decisions on front foot no balls in the five-match ODI series. The technology, if successful, will eliminate the risk of manual error in calling out no balls.
So this is how it will work. If the on-field umpire has to call a no-ball, he will first refer to the third umpire, who will have access to four side-on cameras to facilitate in the decision-making process. Understandably, he will be using the slow-motion technology to detect a no ball and relay the message to the ground umpire within a few seconds.
The message will be relayed to the on-field umpires who will be wearing “pager” watches, an example of which has been presented below.
The pager watch will vibrate when the third umpire will confirm a no ball. If because of some issue, the watch is unable to work, then common channels of communication will be used to send the message. The latter is obviously expected to consume more time.
Cricket history is witness to numerous instances when a wrong decision by the umpire has turned around the fortunes of a team. The governing body ICC plans to rid the gentleman’s game of such misjudgments using the latest available technology.
ICC Senior Manager – Umpires and Referees, Adrian Griffith said,
While we need to find out if the technology set-up for this purpose is fit, at the same time we feel this is the right time to conduct the trial as the TV umpires will have more information than ever before to share with the on-field umpires, which, in turn, will help them in correct decision-making.
