The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have agreed the protocols for the use of the Decision Review System (DRS), in consultation with the ICC, for the forthcoming Test series which begins at Lord's Cricket Ground on Thursday.
In accordance with the recent ICC Board decision, the minimum standards of infra-red technology and stump microphones will be employed during the four-Test series and five One Day Internationals between England and India .
The agreement of both Boards is required to extend the DRS technology beyond these minimum standards. While ECB were in favour of full usage of DRS, which would have included ball tracking technology, the BCCI indicated their desire for the system to be limited to the agreed minimum standards in this series. Accordingly, to achieve a practical application, it has been agreed by all parties that players shall not be able to review leg-before-wicket (LBW) decisions during the Test and ODI series.
ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, said: 'While we are disappointed that the full DRS will not be used to support the umpires, we are pleased that the ECB and BCCI have worked hard to ensure the minimum DRS is used in this much anticipated series.
'It is common knowledge that the ICC and ECB would have liked ball tracking to have been included so that LBW decisions could have also been reviewed, but the last Chief Executives Committee and Board meeting in Hong Kong agreed to independently confirm the accuracy of ball-tracking technology. This will now take place as a matter of urgency.'
The ICC Board had agreed a CEC recommendation that ball tracking technology be used only if both participating teams agree.
This is the first time since 2008 that India has agreed to use the DRS in a bilateral series.
