Arthur admits to mixed feelings about UDRS

The Wisden Cricketer

South Africa coach not convinced about predictive element of Hawkeye

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has added his voice to the controversy raging about the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), saying he has mixed feelings about the development.

Writing in the February issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Arthur says:

“I was always in favour of the UDRS but now that we have seen the system in operation for a decent period of time, I have mixed feelings. Incorrect umpiring decisions can affect the results of matches and also players’ careers so I felt that anything that could bring more correct decisions had to be good for the game.

“The system is definitely more good than bad but I do have some misgivings. We have to standardise the use of the UDRS across the world by using all the tools available. If Hot Spot and Snicko are used in one series but not another then the system is half-baked,” he writes.

Arthur also admits to reservations about the use of Hawkeye’s predictive element, indicating if the ball would go on to hit, or miss, the stumps:

“I’m not 100% convinced about the predictive element of Hawk-Eye and I don’t think many players are either. The other issue that needs to be clarified is the amount of time taken to decide whether to call for a review. I understand that in Australia it has been 10 seconds. In our series against England we were given 25. I think it’s fair to say that both South Africa and England did take longer than we should have done at times.”

South Africa’s coach is already thinking ahead to his team’s Test series in India next month, where he believes there are likely to be more lbws given under the UDRS:

“It will be interesting to see how the UDRS works in the sub-continent. I suspect there may be more lbws given out on review because height and bounce will rarely be an issue. In the past these decisions would have been given not out because of the turn and perhaps the batsman getting a long way forward.”

As far as the umpires themselves are concerned, Arthur writes:

“I get the impression that some umpires are in favour of it, others less so. But overall I think they have made their peace with it as long as correct decisions are arrived at. {David} Richardson {of the ICC} told us that the UDRS has improved the percentage of correct decisions from 93 to 98. And that really is what it comes down to. If the UDRS can eliminate the absolute shocker, then it is doing its job.”