The Hindu : Sport : India agrees to modified version of Umpire Decision Review System

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India agrees to modified version of Umpire Decision Review System

HONG KONG: India said on Monday that it had agreed to a modified version of the controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), bringing to an end a damaging row which threatened to tear apart international cricket.

The International Cricket Council's chief executives' committee unanimously agreed at its Hong Kong conference to make UDRS mandatory in all international Tests and one-day matches, India's cricket authorities announced.

“The BCCI has always expressed its willingness to embrace technology, for the betterment of the game,” said N. Srinivasan, the president-elect of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, in a statement posted on its website.

The ground-breaking deal means that India will, for the first time, agree to use the UDRS in a Test series when it tours England from July. But Srinivasan added: “However, the current (Hawkeye) ball-tracking technology, on which the UDRS system is based, is not acceptable to the board.

“The BCCI is agreeable to the use of technology in decision-making, which will include infra-red cameras and audio-tracking devices. The BCCI's view was supported at the ongoing ICC CEC meeting in Hong Kong.”

Hot Spot, the “thermal imaging” technology now available and made mandatory in the UDRS, will mostly be used for close catches and edges.

But the committee decided that the use of Hawkeye would continue to depend on agreement between both teams in any match.

On-field umpires

Lbw decisions will continue to be governed by the on-field umpires. Under the agreement, teams will be allowed to make one incorrect challenge to an on-field umpire's decision before all their referrals for that innings are used up.

A two-challenge system, broadly accepted by most of cricket's leading nations, was in use at the recent World Cup in the subcontinent.

The BCCI had questioned the accuracy of the technology involved in the DRS and Monday's deal marks a significant concession from BCCI which has been opposed almost from the moment of the system's inception in 2009.

The mandatory terms and conditions for the UDRS have been recommended to the executive board for approval, seen as a formality now that India's crucial backing has been secured.

Lifeline

The world cricket's governing body also opened the door for non-Test playing nations to compete in the next World Cup, reversing a bar that had outraged “minnows” including Ireland and Holland.

The ICC said in a statement its chief executives' committee had recommended a qualifying process for the 2015 tournament, without specifying how many teams it wanted to see taking part.

The recommendation rows back on the ICC's unpopular decision to limit the 2015 World Cup, in Australia and New Zealand, to the 10 full-member teams — excluding countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and Kenya. — AFP

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