DRS comes under scrutiny after a controversial decision

DRS comes under scrutiny after a controversial decision: The cricket’s ball-tracking technology that has left players, experts and fans baffled after a ruling on day three of the first Test between Australia and West Indies made everyone raise their eyebrows. An lbw decision was reviewed by Australia which the DRS controversially returned in favor of the batsman.

Australia’s Peter Siddle got a delivery to come back towards opener Kraigg Braithwaite, striking him on the pad. Australia’s appeal was turned down by the umpire Marais Erasmus, prompting captain Steve Smith to send the decision upstairs.

Replays showed no edge and the Virtual-Eye ball-tracking technology showed the ball to be crashing into leg stump. But the system returned a ruling of ‘Umpire’s Call’, despite showing a significant part of the ball to be hitting the stumps. The decision stunned the Australian players.

Spin legend Shane Warne labelled the decision by DRS as “ridiculous” on Channel Nine’s commentary while former Australia and Netherlands quick Dirk Nannes was equally confused.

“It just has to be out. I trust the technology on this one; I think that’s exactly where the ball was going. It’s the rules that govern the interpretation of whether it’s out or not that are incorrect in this one. It was going to smash leg stump. I thought the initial decision was incorrect. Live I thought ‘that’s out’. If you look at the image, you look at the frame of where that ball was going to hit, you can’t help but shake your head. The ball hit the batsman in front of middle and off. It’s not missing leg stump. And it’s hit him on the knee. It’s not going over,” Dirk Nannes said on ABC Grandstand.

The ICC’s Playing Conditions for Test matches indicate that the ruling of ‘Umpire’s Call’ in this instance would have come down to a matter of millimetres.

Law 3.3, which outlines the process of consultation for Player Reviews, states: “If a ‘not out’ decision is being reviewed, in order to report that the ball is hitting the stumps, the evidence provided by technology should show that the centre of the ball would have hit the stumps within an area demarcated by a line drawn below the lower edge of the bails and down the middle of the outer stumps.”

West Indies were defeated inside three days in the first Test by an innings and 212 runs. James Pattinson (5/27) ran through the West Indies batting order on the third day after asking them to follow-on. Braithwaite (94) was the sole batsman who could cope with the Aussies in the second innings. He scored 63.51% of West Indies’ 148, the highest percentage ever by a West Indian in a Test innings.

It stays not out…

Again, thoughts? #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/SldDmiUhBr

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 12, 2015

Also Read – Dirk Nannes slams Australian team for its lack of sportsmanship