Legendary England batsman and commentator Geoffrey Boycott has slammed South Africa's curators for being 'too kind' to India in the recent Test series, saying had he been the captain of the African side, he would have 'strangled' the groundsmen.
According to Sport24, Boycott's views may sharpen suspicion among local observers that the whole, initially controversy-marred tour, seemed tailor-made to satisfy Indian needs rather than those of No 1-ranked South Africa.
Boycott, who spends much of his time in South Africa and is very familiar with the cricketing landscape, said the hosts, who clinched the series 1-0 on the final day of the second Test in Durban, 'should have beaten India 2-0', admitting confusion over the surfaces offered.
Slamming the curators, he said that the pitches were dry and flat instead of having a bit of pace and grass, adding that he had not seen pitches like those for years in South Africa.
However, the report mentioned that South Africa overcame the inconvenience of relatively benign pitches, with pace pair Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander grabbing 10 wickets each over the course of the often high-scoring Tests.
ICC testing new review system in Pak-Sri Lanka Test series
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council is reportedly doing a trial of a new review system, called Officiating Replay System (ORS), in which a non-match umpire is provided direct replays during a match, in the ongoing Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the UAE.
ICC introduced the Decision Review System (DRS), which allows both teams to challenge decisions made by on-field umpires and have them referred to the TV official, in 2008 on a trial basis.
According to Sport24, the new system, aimed at further improving the prevalent DRS, was first trialled earlier this year in the Old Trafford Test in the Ashes between Australia and England, and then in the fifth one-day international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi last week.
The report mentioned that the trial would continue during the ongoing first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi as well as the remaining two Tests in that series.
Five-time Umpire of the Year winner Simon Taufel, now ICC manager for umpires' training and performance after his officiating retirement in 2012, said the new system would help attain more accuracy and save time on referred decisions during international cricket matches
Taufel further said that the system, which is a series of monitors that will provide direct footage to those monitors in High Definition (HD), will be provided to the third umpire after the ORS is approved.
He added that under the ORS, it would be possible to look at a boundary check in under five seconds and look at the front-foot no-ball check in around two seconds, adding that the ORS will give television umpires more options.
However, Taufel admitted that it would depend on the ICC technology review group to convince the boards to adopt the ORS.
