The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : `ICC decision will give precedence to TV umpire'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

`ICC decision will give precedence to TV umpire'

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council's decision to permit the on-field umpires to consult the television umpire on any aspect of any decision in one-day internationals, will give "precedence" to the television umpire over the on-field umpires according to former India captain and retired ICC Elite Panel umpire, S. Venkatraghavan.

"The powers are being gradually taken away from the on-field umpires. They will be like puppets,'' said former Test umpire Piloo Reporter.

"There's nothing new. The ICC tried a few things during the 2002 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, like whether the ball had pitched outside the leg stump and also on the aspect relating to `height'. I don't know why it's discontinued. But it's okay, if the technology is going to help in ascertaining a correct decision and in the larger interest of the game,'' said Venkatraghavan.

Venkatraghavan who retired from the ICC Elite Panel last year after officiating in 73 Tests and 57 one-day internationals said the technology trial (from the Johnnie Walker Super Series in Australia) could become cumbersome. "The producer should ensure that the camera is in the correct position to get a perfect decision and avoid the parallax effect.''

According to Reporter the ball pitching outside the leg stump will be passed on to the television umpire. "This will be similar to the experiment carried out during the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka. The majority of the lbw decisions will be passed on to the third umpire by the on-field umpires if they have the slightest doubt.''

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