The ICC's umpire review system

Umpire review system to be trialled in Sri Lanka-India Tests

Cricinfo staff

June 16, 2008

The proposed umpire review system will be trialled during India's three-Test series against Sri Lanka, beginning next month, the Indian board has said. Originally set to feature for the first time during South Africa's upcoming series against England, it was shelved after both boards failed to reach an agreement on the details.

The ICC Board, had, in March, approved the trial of the review system during a Test series in the current cricket calendar. It will now have to approve its Cricket Committee's recommendations before the Sri Lanka- India series begins. The main elements are:

• Umpires should still be permitted to refer line decisions or boundaries to the third umpire as normal without a player requesting him to refer that decision"
• The players should be permitted to ask the on-field umpire to review any aspect of any other decision in consultation with the third umpire
• The process should take the form and order of: on-field umpire gives his decision; affected batsman or fielding side's captain asks the umpire to review that decision; the on-field umpire(s) and third umpire consult; the on-field umpire gives his final decision
• The committee recommended that Hawk-Eye technology could be used by the third umpire but only for the purposes of determining the actual path of the ball up until the point that it struck the batsman and not the predictor function of the technology

The BCCI press release said the following technology could be used by the third umpire while considering the review request:

• Slow motion replays from all available cameras
• Super slow motion replays from the cameras positioned at either end of the ground
• Ultra motion camera replays from the cameras positioned at either end of the ground
• Sound from the stump microphones with the replays at normal speed and slow motion
• Hawk-Eye for ball tracking purposes only (not for predicting the potential future trajectory of the ball)

According to the system, players will request reviews by making a 'T' sign; if the third umpire disagrees with the on-field umpire, the on-field umpire should revoke his previous decision before giving the new verdict. The review system will make its first appearance in the first Test in Colombo, which begins on July 23.

The system was first proposed back in 1997 by Senaka Weeraratne, a Sri Lankan lawyer, whose letter was published in several newspapers. It was then forwarded to Upali Dharmadasa, the then Sri Lankan board president, for further action.

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