The search for improved decision-making in international cricket will see standing umpires wired-up to television stump microphone technology, and third umpires calling no balls during September's ICC Champions Trophy.
Confirming plans for further trials of umpiring technology, ICC general manager-cricket David Richardson said: "For the second successive ICC Champions Trophy we will be trialling a number of innovative technological advances to see if they help umpires improve the quality and consistency of decision-making."
Umpires standing in seven of the 15 ICC Champions Trophy matches will wear a earpiece that picks up the audio from the stump microphone as the ball passes the batsman. The trial will indicate whether the microphone's position close to the action area will provide audible assistance to officials in cases which are sometimes difficult to pick up, such as thin nicks to the keeper or bat pad fielders.
The trial builds on the experience of using earpieces during a number of televised first class matches in South Africa earlier this year. Initial feedback suggests that the devices were beneficial to umpires, but a truer test of their value is expected from the Champions Trophy experiment.
Standing umpires will also be relieved of the need to watch for, or call no balls during the tournament if results from a preliminary trial prove successful. Matches played in the triangular tournament in Holland between India, Pakistan and Australia before the ICC Champions Trophy will be used to test the process.
This will see the responsibility for calling no balls pass to the third, or TV umpire. He will use the two-way link provided by the earpiece to advise standing officials of any deliveries ruled as no balls.
"The effect of this is that the standing umpire will not need to adjust his line of sight from the bowler in delivery stride to the batsman receiving the ball. Instead, he can concentrate fully on the 'business' end, which could provide crucial extra fractions of a second to judge whether an appeal is out or not," explained David Richardson.
The ICC's view on technology is that it will only be used in the decision-making process if it can provide conclusive answers, is practically feasible to introduce for all international cricket, will not affect the way the game is played or undermine or devalue the role of the on-field umpires.
"Cricket is a passionate and emotive game with a powerful element of character and personality. Umpires are part of this and the ICC has no wish to reduce their contribution by taking decision making authority away from them. I do not believe the game or its followers want to see umpires reduced to the role of coat racks, but we all have a vested interest in trying to improve the accuracy and consistency of decision making," said ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed.
Performance statistics for the last 12 months show that the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires is operating at a correct decision rate of around 92 per cent, which compares to 94 per cent achieved in Major League Baseball.
"Our view is that cricket is a more difficult game to umpire than baseball, so if we want our officials to attain a higher percentage of correct decisions we may need to provide them with greater support through extra technology and the skills of their colleagues in the third umpire's box," added Speed.
Despite its traditional image, cricket has been one of the most pioneering international sports in the use of TV-related technology. Umpires can refer decisions for stumpings, run outs, bump balls, catches where both umpires are unsighted and boundaries to the third umpire. No other major sport combines the outstanding skills of its on-field adjudicators with the precision of the TV cameras to this extent.
