Following a string of poor decisions by the umpires in the 2018 HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the management of CPL has decided to implement the Decision Review System (DRS) in the final two matches of the 2018 season while expressing that it is likely to see the technology being applied throughout the entire 2019 season.
According to Chief Operations Officer of CPL, Pete Russell who was speaking at a press conference on Monday highlighted the umpiring aspect of the game as one in which needs to be bettered heading into the next season.
However, while accepting there were some bad decisions, he does not feel that the blame is on the umpires but it is with CPL for not providing the necessary “tools” the umpires have on the international scene.
Russell responded by saying “the umpiring, not necessarily the umpiring, I think they have always been under pressure but I think the decision making process, we haven’t given them the tools that they are used to on the international scene so obviously DRS is coming into the last two games.”
By Virtue of this, CPL has implemented the DRS for the final two matches of the season, something which was seen as a good move by Trinbago Knight Riders captain, Dwayne Bravo.
When asked his view on the technology, Bravo said “Yes I think it’s right for the game, yes throughout the game we had some very poor decisions by the umpires… it worked in favour of some teams but it cost others, I think it is only fair the right thing is being used and especially in playoffs [only for the last two matches] because these simple mistakes can really cost a team the title and its good on CPL that they actually put in this for the playoffs.”
The All-rounder went on to compare the umpires with the players, pointing out “Yes we know the umpires are humans but we as players are humans also and when we react we get fined. At least now we can feel a bit more secure the technology is there and being used.”
Meanwhile Russell indicated that there are already discussions taking place to have the technology used in the next season pointing out the cost as being a factor but nevertheless, he believes it is likely to happen.
“That’s [DRS] what we have been discussing, to bring that sort of technology is a big investment but the tournament is now at level and the expectation is now at such a level that you have to make sure that every angle is covered and for us we just want players to be able to go out there and play without having fear of being put out by a bad decision so it’s very likely we will have it next year.” Russell said.
In the season, St. Lucia Stars skipper Kieron Pollard had signaled his frustration following a leg before wicket decision against David Warner that replays showed hitting the bat and going into the gloves, stating that poor umpiring threatens to undermine the CPL.
