Dubai: ICC is planning to empower TV umpires to become the sole adjudicators of front-foot no-balls in cricket matches and for this, it will be conducting trials in the coming days.
Over the period of next six months, the world cricket body will identify the number of limited-overs series in which it can implement a system where the TV umpire — instead of on-field umpires — will call no-balls for overstepping.
In the 2016 ODI series between England and Pakistan, the system was put into the trial but it will be rolled out on a much broader scale this time.
“Broadly, yes (the same technology as 2016 will be used),” Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager cricket operations told ESPNcricinfo.
“The idea is the third umpire will be presented an image of the front-foot landing within a few seconds. He would communicate to the on-field umpire that a no-ball has been delivered, so every delivery on the field would be played as a fair delivery until called otherwise.”
During the previous trial in 2016, a Hawkeye operator was used who presented a still image to the third umpire independent of the normal broadcast.
“The footage is shown on a slight delay, it goes to super slo-mo as the foot approaches the point of landing and then it freezes,” Allardice said. “The routine works well, with the third umpire judging the no-ball off a picture that is not always shown on the broadcast.”
The move to conduct this trial has come after the ICC’s Cricket Committee wants this system to be used in as many limited-overs matches as possible.
“The Cricket Committee recommended that we do it in all ODIs and T20Is. In 2018 there were about 84,000 balls delivered around the world in those formats in men’s international cricket. So to monitor the no-ball on each of those deliveries at all of the different venues is a big exercise,” said Allardice.
“We just need to understand all the challenges before implementing this across all matches.
“Can this technology be implemented consistently across the 80 venues that hosted ODIs and T20Is last year? There are different levels of television coverage across these matches, so it will be easier to implement at some matches than at others.
“We now have 104 members who play T20I cricket and many of their matches are not televised, so what do we there? Thinking through all of the implications of introducing this is the exercise for us over the next six months,” he added.
There have been many incidents in the recent past where on-field umpires have failed to spot a front-foot no-ball. The most noticeable one came in this year’s IPL edition when umpire S. Ravi missed Lasith Malinga overstepping in a game between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
