Sunny switches lights on Tests
Shyam Bhatia
India Abroad correspondent in London
New playing conditions for Test and One Day International cricket have been
agreed in London, but the International Cricket Council's Cricket Committee-Playing (CC-P) has decided to retain status quo for using TV technology to assist the umpires' decision-making.
Discussions on adapting missile tracking technology, known as Hawk Eye, to
help umpires adjudicate LBWs has been deferred for at least a year.
For Test cricket, the Sunil Gavaskar chaired CC-P has approved the mandatory
use of lights to permit play to continue in conditions where natural light
is fading. The decision to use lights will be at the discretion of the
umpires.
An ICC spokesman told this correspondent that the Committee had also agreed to the use
of all 5 penalty runs on the field of play for disciplinary breaches, as covered by the Laws of the game. "This will be for a trial period of 12 months", the spokesman explained. "Penalty runs cover both Test and ODI (one day international) matches."
An Australian Cricket Board proposal to use disciplinary cards was
discussed and will be further reviewed next month (June) when the Cricket
Committee-Managing meets.
The spokesman reviewed the new playing conditions that had been approved to
avoid the apparent predictability of many ODI matches.
These include the bowling of one bouncer per over and allocation of bonus
points for tournaments and series involving three or more teams. Winning
teams will be awarded four points, with a tie or no result counting for two
points. A single bonus point will be available to the side winning the series.
"A detailed statistical assessment of the formula used to calculate the awarding of
bonus points will be agreed at the CC-M meeting in June", the spokesman
added.
He said a six-run penalty for each over of an innings not bowled within the
scheduled time was approved. This will apply to both innings of a
match.
The Duckworth Lewis method for recalculating target scores was approved for
a further three years.
On the use of TV technology to help umpires make "line decisions", the CC-P
has decided to maintain the status quo. The ICC spokesman said, "This
allows TV replays to assist umpires in making what are termed 'line
decisions' covering stumpings, hit wicket, run out and boundaries. Replays
can also be used to determine if a catch has been cleanly taken by a
fielder."
Commenting on the CC-P's meeting, Gavaskar said, "In reaching the decision
to maintain the current level of technological assistance the Committee
considered the merits of all options available to it. These included using
more or even less technology.
"Our final decision was influenced by the ICC's recommendations on the
restructuring of the international panel of umpires. This proposes to
appoint an elite panel of the best umpires to officiate in all Test matches
from April 2002.
"The view of the Committee was that the consistent use of the most highly
regarded umpires will improve the overall standard of decision making and
that further use of technology would not at present be required.
"This decision does not mean that the game is rejecting the extension of TV-based technology in the long term. The Committee will review the matter on a regular basis rather than consider it every three years, as per other playing regulations."
The ICC spokesman confirmed that Hawk Eye technology had been mentioned to
Committee members. "If it is still around in 12 months time, they will need
to look at it", the spokesman said.