by Anura Guruge

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Click to access the original from “The Australian”. Google ‘no ball’ for more.

I just knew it would be coming. I had been expecting it for years. Tennis has been using technology to automatically detect foot faults — the so called ‘electronic line judge‘ — for decades.

So, this was due. It will complement and embellish cricket’s ‘Decision Review System‘ (DRS) technology.

From a technological standpoint it will be simpler than ‘ball tracking’, but more involved than ‘ultra-edge’ (i.e., ‘snicko’).

I am, however, not sure how it will work — especially HOW real-time it would be, i.e., how QUICKLY the umpire will be able to signal no-ball. That, as you can appreciate if you know cricket, can make a world of difference. At least in Test cricket there should not be a Free Hit after the call. Either the call is made as the ball is delivered or you just get one no-ball added and an extra ball.

Whatever scheme they use it will chance scoring dynamics. That is my concern.

At least for the last 20-years umpires have been awfully lax about calling no-balls. So, thousands of runs, just as EXTRAS, have gone begging — not counting runs that could have been scored off the extra ball or the no-ball itself, IF it was called as such early enough.

So, suddenly, we will see a spike in SCORES — both overall match scores and individual scores. That bothers I. Makes players of the last two decades look somewhat bad. That is my concern.

Well, I will be keeping an eye on this technology. All said, it won’t be as easy as it sounds. Human judgement may be required. Plus, can players request a DRS on no-balls. We did have that in a Pakistani match. All good stuff. Adds to the drama.

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by Anura Guruge