A string of no-ball controversies in the first Test between England and the West Indies has placed that aspect of umpiring in the spotlight has again and could encourage the ICC to mandate the use of technology in top-tier internationals.
Photo Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
There is a belief that the ability to check for front-foot transgressions retrospectively has dulled umpire’s ability to pick up a bowler overstepping.
Analysis of replays shows that umpires frequently miss front foot no-balls and if a wicket does not fall, the transgression goes completely unpunished.
Bowlers always feel aggrieved when their wickets are overturned after the fact, but it is hard to argue that they are genuinely the aggrieved party in all this.
The ICC trialled technology to call front-foot no-balls during the T20 Women’s World Cup earlier this year.
A simple system was used with the TV Umpire monitoring the front foot on each ball and advising on-field umpires if the bowler overstepped.
Cricket also trialled a no-ball watch for umpires that beeped when a bowler had overstepped, but the device required the TV Umpire to do the monitoring anyway, so the plans were scrapped in favour of more streamlined ideas.
In Test cricket, the playing conditions have been agreed up to the end of the World Test Championship, which should have been in mid-2021. Any changes in the game’s ultimate format will have to wait, but the ICC are believed to be keen on implementing technology of some sort during the new ODI League which will double as the fifty-over World Cup Qualifiers.
In its current form, the system will present the TV Umpire with a Hawkeye freezeframe then a super slow-motion replay of the front foot landing with the goal of getting a signal within ten seconds of the ball being delivered.
The front foot no-ball problem is probably one of the easiest for cricket to solve but the powers that be have dragged their heels, possibly due to the cost of extending the use of technology.
In the high stakes world of international sport, all parties benefit when decisions are made accurately and consistently, and this move is overdue.
Written by James Richardson for Hollywoodbets
