The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Decision Review System will be used in South Africa for the first time when the Proteas face Australia in the much-anticipated Test series that gets under way at Wanderers on Thursday.
Proteas coach Mickey Arthur has welcomed the umpire referral system to the country and the sport. ”The idea of the referral system is to reverse decisions that are clearly wrong,” said Arthur, who also serves on the ICC Cricket Committee. ”Anything that is going to improve decision-making is to be welcomed.”
The series between South Africa and Australia will be the fourth in the space of the last few months to trial the ICC’s Decision Review System through which both the batting and bowling sides can request an umpire’s decision to be referred for review by the third umpire.
The system has previously been used in series between India and Sri Lanka and between New Zealand and the West Indies, and is currently also in use in the series between England and the West Indies in the Caribbean.
West Indies captain Chris Gayle — one of the system’s critics — ironically benefited from it just last month when challenged being caught down the legside off Andrew Flintoff. The decision was reversed after television replays showed the ball clearly brushed his side and he went on to score his first century on home ground.
Under the system each team can request two unsuccessful reviews per innings. If a referral is successful (in other words, if the decision is changed) then it does not count as one of the reviews. The call for a referral to the third umpire can be made by the batsman at the crease who may consult his partner first and by the captain of the fielding side who may consult with the bowler or other fielders. In such cases the consultation must be very brief and the request for a review must be made within a matter of seconds.
When the third umpire reviews a decision, he is allowed to consult certain technology, including approved ball-tracking technology that tracks the path of the ball, but not for predicting the future path of the ball.
To ask for a review a player makes a ”T” sign with both forearms at head height. The on-field umpire will then make the normal TV screen signal to his third umpire colleague.
The on-field umpires for the first blood and thunder series against the Aussies are Steve Bucknor of the West Indies, who is taking charge of his final series before retiring, and Billy Bowden of New Zealand. Asad Rauf of Pakistan is the third (TV) umpire.