They both earned wickets through it they would not otherwise have gotten.
But captains Chris Gayle and Daniel Vettori are sceptical about the new referral system on umpires’ decisions, through the use of television technology, being trialled by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the current series between the West Indies and New Zealand.
It was used seven times in the drawn, weather-ruined Test in Dunedin. Four of the challenges against decisions given by the standing umpire were upheld when referred to the third umpire, three rejected.
Gayle, who had a not out lbw decision against Daniel Flynn by debutant umpire Amish Saheba of India overturned when referred to third umpire Rudi Koertzen, indicated he was content with things as they were.
“To be honest, I’m not a big fan of it,” he said yesterday. “You have two standing umpires out there to get the job done, just as we (the players) have to get our job done sometimes.
“Sometimes decisions go in your favour, sometimes they don’t and that’s been happening over the years,” he added, revealing an unexpectedly traditionalist view.
Vettori had two not out verdicts reversed, both also by Saheba, the first on a bat-pad catch against Xavier Marshall, the second for lbw against Denesh Ramdin. But he believes the system is not working as intended.
“A little bit of fine tuning needs to be done,” the New Zealand captain said. “I think the 50-50 ones slow the game down and you take the (standing) umpire completely out of it.
“If the umpire makes a decision and it’s not palpably wrong, then you should go with the umpire’s first decision,” was his take.
Vettori also suggested that reducing the number of unsuccessful reviews to one, rather than three at present, would eliminate frivolous challenges that waste time.
Gayle said that, should he be at the next regular Test captains’ meeting with the ICC and the issue was raised, he would state his position.
“It is only my opinion,” he said. “Perhaps no one will listen to my opinion but I’ll just be honest and say what I think.”
The system extends the use of television replays from line decisions on run outs, stumpings and boundaries to lbws and bat-pad and edged catches.
It was introduced in India’s series of three Tests in Sri Lanka earlier in the year when there were 48 referrals.
The trial will continue in Tests in the West Indies home series against England and South Africa’s against Australia in February and March.
After receiving reports from umpires and from captains, the ICC will then decide whether it should be made permanent.
Both the fielding captain and the relevant batsman can claim a review of what they consider an incorrect decision by making a T-sign. The third umpire then considers all aspects of the television replays before radioing back his findings to the standing umpire for his ultimate decision.
One negative aspect in Dunedin was the length of time the process took – as long as six minutes for Saheba to overturn his original not out on Vettori’s lbw appeal against Ramdin.
Another was the lack of information as to what was going on from the ground announcer. It was a new development and spectators were bemused while the scoreboard simply showed the words, “decision pending.”
David Richardson, the former South Africa wicket-keeper, now ICC cricket manager, has clarified the reasoning behind the experiment.
“The fact that each side is allowed only three unsuccessful requests to review in each innings should mean that players will not make frivolous challenges and, instead, only seek a referral of those decisions which are highly likely to be incorrect,” he said.
The ICC also hoped it would help “remove a source of tension and frustration among players and spectators as well as any resultant pressure on umpires”.
