THE Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) will not be a part of India’s upcoming Test tour of South Africa. Gerald Majola, chief executive of Cricket South Africa confirmed the news to ESPNcricinfo saying, “(We) will definitely not be using it.” Majola, who was in Dubai for the ICC Chief Executives Conference did not explain what had led to the decision but a CSA official said the main reason was, “India are not keen to use it”.
Corrie van Zyl, the South Africa coach, said his team had been expecting this development, given India’s stance on the issue. South Africa have used the UDRS in other home series, most recently against England in 2009-10.
“We are not going to use it and thats the end of it,” he said. “I like UDRS and it does eradicate a lot of decisions that are wrong, which can only be good for the game.
“I’m not disappointed, I almost knew it was not going to happen in any case, so it’s not a major disappointment, and it will still be a very good series without it.”
Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, had said in October that the UDRS needed to be implemented consistently and that technology was the way forward in cricket.
“I think if the UDRS is going to be successful it needs to be implemented properly by the ICC and not on a 50-50 basis like we have seen so far,” he had said. “It must be used all of the time and not for selective series like we see now.”
Smith’s team-mate AB de Villiers has also come out in support of the UDRS. “I’d love to see the referral system used,” he said. “It’s necessary to get some of the really poor decisions out of the game. It frustrates everyone.
I’ve spoken to some umpires, who also back the system and really want it in place. It’s something that we all have to get used to, and it’s taken us a while to get used to it. I’d like to see it being used in all cricket.”
India have played a series in which the UDRS was used only once – in Sri Lanka in 2008. They struggled with their referrals on that tour, getting only one review right, while Sri Lanka successfully challenged 11 decisions.
Since then the UDRS has been used in Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand and West Indies and has found favour with several captains and players. The Indians and the BCCI, however, are firmly opposed to the system, even though the ICC have approved its use in principle during the 2011 World Cup.
MS Dhoni, the India captain, reiterated his reluctance to accept the system during the recent home series against New Zealand, calling for the standard of on-field umpiring to be improved instead. (ESPN Cricinfo)