Referral System Causing More Confusion

The referral system introduced by International Cricket Council (ICC) seems to be creating more confusion among players. The ICC introduced referrals in cricket to help umpires in making their decisions. .The Referral System was introduced last year in the series between India and Sri Lanka. This system allows the batting or the bowling team to appeal against umpiring decisions and a television official would review it. Each team is allowed two referrals per innings.  The recent referral decisions in the series between West Indies and England were baffling.

The ICC should either use the full available technology or leave the final decision to the Umpires on the field. The ICC is not using the Hawk-Eye technology which predicts the trajectory of the ball after impact. But even after years watching Hawk-Eye technology on television, it seems to be inconclusive. The Snickometer, which analyses sound and video, shows whether the ball has touched the bat or not. Even this technology is not used by ICC. The Hot Spot, which is an infra-red imaging system, is used in cricket to determine whether the ball has struck the bat. This technology has been introduced in the referral system on a trial basis from the second test in the ongoing test series between Australia and South Africa. But the Hot Spot technology is not available all over the world to make good use of it.

Many players around the world have voiced their doubts over the Referral System.  Sachin Tendulkar said there is still an element of uncertainty in the system. South African Captain Graeme Smith said he has little faith in the Referral System. 

The ICC needs to seriously review the referral system. True the ICC wants to eradicate bad decisions in cricket, but even with the use of technology there are no conclusive decisions being made. The decisions should be left to the on-field umpires and retain the human element in the game.  I do think most of the players would agree to this.