Abu Dhabi: Simon Taufel, five-time umpire of the year, today said a new trialled system will help attain more accuracy and save time on referred decisions during international cricket matches.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is trialling a new review system, called Officiating Replay System (ORS), in which a non-match umpire is provided with direct replays during a match. ICC introduced the Decision Review System (DRS) in 2008 on a trial basis. The system allows both teams to challenge decisions made by on-field umpires and have them referred to the TV official.
The new system, aimed at further improving the prevalent DRS, was first trialled earlier this year in the Old Trafford Test in the Ashes between Australia and England, and then in the fifth one-day international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi last week.
The trial continues during the ongoing first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi as well as the remaining two Tests in that series. Taufel, now ICC manager for umpires' training and performance after his officiating retirement in 2012, said the ORS will help in efficiency and accuracy in refered decisions.
"It's a separate technology trial which is independent of what is happening with third umpire in this Test, and we are looking at different options to better serve the game of cricket and have less interruptions and less breaks in play, and improve decision-making as much as we can," Taufel told reporters.
Taufel, declared umpire of the year from 2004 to 2008, explained the system which will be provided to the third umpire after the ORS is approved. "It is a series of monitors that will provide direct footage to those monitors in High Definition (HD).
"I am able to say to the operator that I want to so and so replay this angle or I want to combine these two images together and he can quickly construct those images for me in what is an amazing shortness of time," said Taufel about the system.
Under the ORS it will be possible to look at a boundary check in under five seconds and look at the front-foot no-ball check in around two seconds, said Taufel, who officiated 74 Tests, 174 one-dayers and 34 T20 matches.
Taufel said the ORS will give television umpires more options. "It certainly gives him (tv umpire) a lot of options and I think that is one of the pluses we are seeing but we're keeping a very open mind about things; nothing is locked in stone.
"Technology changes all the time, cricket changes a lot of the time. "Umpiring is all about giving the players the best service, the best umpiring and best decisions possible, and this trial fits into that theory."
Taufel said it will depend on the ICC technology review group to convince the boards to adopt the ORS. "It (ORS) makes our job a lot easier, but we're also aware of the cost implications and things like that that have to be worked through."
Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja, now a widely travelled commentator, said the new system can be useful on two counts. "ORS can be useful on eliminating the broadcaster's bias, if there was any, and it will save time on referred decisions," Raja told AFP.
"On those two counts it is a move in the right direction and its effectivity will only be judged when it is used on a consistent basis," said Raja, who played 57 Tests and 198 one-dayers for Pakistan and also served the Pakistan Cricket Board as chief executive in 2004.
