For some, the introduction of electronic equipments as third umpire and probably the fourth is like complete invasion of cricket by technology. But for others technology is just practical. This Cricket360 special review compares between human umpiring and electronic verdict.

In cricket, umpire is the symbol of neutral decision. But what happens when the umpire falls from grace? He simply starts losing the confidence of those on the pitch as well as those in the gallery. And it is here that the ICC feels the needs for enhanced role of impartial electronic umpiring based on cameras. As the new umpire referral mechanism is going to debut in the forthcoming India-Sri Lanka series, the efficacy of electronic umpiring over human umpiring is under question.

The cricket teams are seldom happy with the umpire decisions, especially over the LBW and caught behind appeals. This led the cricket boards of different countries call for video replay to resolve the disputes regarding a run out or a stumping, or the catch out decisions of on-field umpires. Then the cricket fans came to see the Channel 9’ innovation—the controversial ‘snickometer’. This claimed to give flawless picture of LBW or stumping by analyzing the sound waves whenever there is a contact between bat and ball. Now the game is on its way to welcome the role of software to judge the validity of LBW appeals. A team of Australian researchers are about to introduce the first three-dimensional program to decide on the LBWs.

The greatest argument in favor of electronic umpiring is: it helps the players give their best without the insecurity of suffering the blow of wrong umpiring verdicts. While other major games like tennis allow technology to review the umpire’s decision, then why should cricket not go up to date by embracing technology? The machine will ensure that the deserving side wins by minimizing the effects of human follies.

Others oppose the cricket’s going cutting edge on the ground of unnecessary delay; video replay for every appeal will make the game mechanical and boring. Is the present technology devised to take into consideration such factors as the condition of the pitch and the bounce it produces, the swing of the ball and so on—they question. Also, the beauty of cricket lies in its unpredictability and the mistakes made by its players and the umpires. These are the little pieces of controversies that make cricket as it is---full of thrill. So replacing the human umpire by an electronic one is completely ruled out; technology is welcome as long as it keeps up the tempo of the game. 

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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