India Favours Umpires’ Hawk Eyes Over Technology

The current series between India and England is a feast for any cricket fan. Two of the finest sides in the world and some of the greatest cricketers the game has ever seen. So far we have experienced genuinely exciting English conditions and a bizarrely brilliant double century from controversial batsman, Kevin Pietersen. One thing is preventing this from being as great as this occasion could be though and that is the Indian's poor compromise regarding the Umpire Decision Review System (DRS).

The DRS was certainly controversial when it was first introduced and it did take a little while for the ICC to get the system right. When it was first introduced the use of Hawk-Eye for LBW decisions was limited to the recorded passage of the ball and not the predicted path. This meant that the third umpire had to use an element of judgement in deciding whether the batsman was out or not. This system proved to be a little absurd, even by the standards of the ICC. Eventually it was decided that Hawk-Eye's predictive element would be used and it has so far proved to be successful. There were fears surrounding its introduction, Umpires, for example, were afraid that the DRS would highlight their incompetence, but in actual fact it has demonstrated how talented and deserving of praise the game's enforcers are.


One cannot claim it is perfect, Hawk-Eye is not necessarily foolproof and more recently doubts have been raised about the sensitivity of infrared technology. It has been claimed by some experts of the technology that it is perfectly possible for the ball to strike the bat and create enough of an impact for the batsman to feel. However, in these instances, it may not cause enough friction to show up on camera. The old fashioned Snickometer has been touted as a possible solution to this but it is definitely not accurate as it is not isolated to noises made between ball and bat so could include noises made between bat and pad. It also takes around seven minutes to generate the results, too long a pause even in test cricket.

Despite these problems, they are certainly an improvement on the snap judgement of an umpire, however reliable he appears to be. The benefit of hindsight will always surpass the senses of the sharpest human being.

This is why it so odd that the BCCI opposes the DRS. There primary argument for failing to adopt the DRS is that it is not foolproof and so they have opted to remain with the old fashioned judgement of the Umpires, who presumably are also far from foolproof. Umpires are certainly more inaccurate than modern technology so perhaps the BCCI should recommend the removal of their involvement in the game. The BCCI have, however, allowed the DRS system to be used for disputes over catches and have been fiercely arguing for the inclusion of the Snickometer in such instances. Again, this seems a little hypocritical as both the thermal imaging equipment and Snicko are also inaccurate, certainly with regards to Snicko.

This refusal to adopt the system that all other test playing nations have deemed acceptable seems to be irrational and the BCCI really ought to be told to introduce the system in order to improve the consistency of LBW decisions made in test matches. The sad fact, however, is that the BCCI have become too powerful for the ICC to boss around. The IPL and the subsequent advertising revenues from a cricket crazy country of around one billion people, has given the BCCI considerable might. Again cricket is suffering from a weak governing body that has to rule the game and cannot allow national authorities to have too much autonomy, especially when it comes to the international game. When one nation takes a stance it affects the quality of the game for all the others.

England swing bowler James Anderson has said: "I don't understand why if all the other Test-playing nations are using it, India doesn't have to use it if they say they don't want to. We want to play with it as it clearly improves decision-making, I'm all in favour of it - but it's their problem if they're not going to support it."

The DRS is not foolproof, but has done a lot to improve the quality of decision making in the game and it has been introduced sensitively over the course of years. I hope the BCCI's hand will be forced, it is the best thing for the game and for the fans.