Lorgat bats for Umpire Decision Review System
The Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719 wants wider implementation of the Umpire Decision Review System to promote fair decision making at the highest level of the game.
The game has been gripped in this debate about the adoption of technology at the highest level in both test cricket and the two limited overs varieties; the ODI and T20 formats.
However, the leading test nation; India, which is widely believed to be the most powerful voice at the ICC has objected to the system and has been a major impediment in the implementation of the system.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 two years ago where they made a mess of their reviews and blew away most of their appeals.
Since then the test captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni has opposed the use of the technology meaning that all test playing opposition that has come up against them were forced to play without the UDRS.
"From the start we've always had a very open mind about the referral system and we are always open to changes that can make the system better," Lorgat told
AAP. "I can't say what those changes might be, but we are open-minded."
The governing body of the game succeeded in convincing the power hungry Board of International Cricket Council BCCI, to implement the UDRS for the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent.
The next step according to the ICC supremo is forcing the Boards to implement the system in bilateral ODI series "More and more people are being won over to the system after having seen it or used it," Lorgat said. "There are still a few
people who are not supportive of it."
Lorgat who takes keen interest in the events on the field stressed that the system's purpose was to rectify umpiring errors that have been a real concern in some of the international matches.
The South African cited Alastair Cook's calling for a referral in the Adelaide Test against being given out caught-behind as one of the error of the system that is not cent percent yet.
"It is not there to get a wicket when you are struggling to find one, it is there to fix the obvious errors," he said. "Alastair Cook's referral on the fourth day when he was given out caught behind off his arm was a classic example.
"That's exactly what it is for, and I'm quite confident we are near to the ideal. We will never have it 100% right." According to Lorgat the individual Boards have to pull up their socks and realize what was important in the longer run,
they have to ensure that there is a fair mechanism in place that can help the game when contentious decisions mar the outcome of a match.
Umpiring has improved over the years, yet so has the scrutiny of umpires after the advent of technology like slow motion cameras, hotspot, and pitch mat or tram lines.
These modes have made umpiring tougher for the international umpires who have to ensure that they make a right decision; any wrong decision can result in a controversy which puts added pressure on the decision makers out in the middle.
The World Cup would be an acid test for the URDS, if it succeeds in ironing out most umpiring blunders than the system can be implemented in all international games in all formats.
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