Australia may consider
artificial eye

Greg Buckle

The Australian Cricket Board said on Tuesday it may consider the issue of using an artificial eye for no-ball rulings but it was more a matter for the International Cricket Council.

ACB chief executive Malcolm Speed, who will take over from David Richards as ICC chief executive in July, said the concept needed "serious consideration".

"Whatever mistakes are made in cricket, whether they be from umpires, administrators or players -- that's an area of concern," Speed told a news conference.

"We're always trying to find a cure for that -- to see if there's a better way of doing it.

"That would be a matter for the ICC to review that. That's something that may be discussed tomorrow (at an ACB board meeting)."

"It's one of the difficulties with the improved and increased levels of technology that everything that happens is reviewed -- there's a high level of scrutiny about it.

"In a perfect world, we'd leave that to the umpires and they'd get it right.

"If there's a problem, we need to address that problem. But I really can't comment if that's the way to go forward or whether there's a better way."

ECB APPROACHED

The England and Wales Cricket Board said on Monday technology used in tennis to determine whether or not a ball hits a line may soon be used in cricket to crack the problem of no-balls.

The issue was prominent after some controversial decisions during England's loss to Pakistan in the second test last week.

ECB cricket operations manager Alan Fordham said the technology, known as Cyclops, would not be put in place for a while.

He said the board had been approached by the manufacturers and that the offer would be taken seriously.

"We'll give them a full opportunity," Fordham said.

FEARS EASE

Speed added that the ACB had written to their English counterparts asking for greater security for players following a crowd invasion which interrupted the one-day international between England and Pakistan in Birmingham last Thursday.

"We've had contact with the ECB and they have put in place a number of new steps to ensure that it's not an issue for the remaining matches in the one-day series and the test series," Speed said.

"I managed to stay awake until the end of the match on Sunday night at Bristol (between England and Australia) and the security there was exceptionally good.

"So hopefully that scare in the first match has prompted additional security measures and we won't have any issues.

"We've taken that issue up in a forthright manner with the ECB and I'm pleased with their response."

Australia's captain Steve Waugh told Reuters last week that it was a "matter of time" before a player was seriously injured as a result of crowd disturbances.

"There is little point in me raising my concerns because the ECB refuses to do anything about it," Waugh said.

ECB chief executive Tim Lamb said last week in a statement:

"We reject the suggestion made by (Waugh) that the ECB does not regard the matter of crowd invasion as a safety issue."

Mail Cricket Editor