July 12, 2009
Synthetic strategising
Posted on 07/12/2009 in Technology
There are already a host of technological aids for umpires and players in cricket and now comes the latest - an analytics program - that gives a team an insight into which way the match is going, the position of the game and, importantly, what strategies to be employed to win. Hindustan Times' Kadambari Murali talks to the head of the company that developed 'Over the Rope' and asks if such a program won't go on to kill creativity.
This means the coach/dugout will tell the batsman he has to get 40 runs in the next three overs. His job is just to get those runs in that time. The bowler’s would be to prevent that, knowing fully well what the batsman has to get and execute his plan. So here’s the question that many will pose: Would this not kill the creativity and the natural instinct of a batsman/bowler and make him more robotic? Ramky believes that isn’t the point. “We’re not trying to kill their creativity but trying to help them win. We’re telling the player: ‘be creative in achieving your goals’. The route is up to him, how to get those 40 runs, not whether 40 or 60 is enough. Dynamic strategising is involved and the program does that based on proven fact and data.”
February 24, 2009
Can this technology end the throwing debate?
Posted on 02/24/2009 in Technology
A Brisbane university hopes to take the controversy out of throwing following the development of strap-on technology that can tell immediately whether a bowler’s action is illegal, reports the Australian.
The device uses electronic sensors to measure the degree of elbow extension from the time the bowling arm reaches a horizontal level to the ball's release ... Griffith University project leader Daniel James said the device would help remove controversy "and let people get on with playing the game".
"Once somebody has developed an arm action, it is very hard to correct on the day,” Dr James said. “But as a training tool this device could be invaluable, especially for developing athletes.
August 3, 2008
Review system here to stay
Posted on 08/03/2008 in Technology
Kumar Sangakkara, in his column in the Telegraph, talks about the positives of the umpire review system, which is under trial in the Sri Lanka-India Test series.
The bottom line in the current Sri Lanka-India Test series that I am playing in is that obvious mistakes have been corrected and the quality of decision-making has been high.
Concerns that technology would undermine the role of the on-field umpire have proved misplaced. Player referrals are a radical departure from the game's traditions, but we have seen both teams conduct themselves responsibly on the field when requesting reviews.
A pattern has started to emerge whereby the overturning of decisions will be rare. Only where obvious mistakes have been made, like whether the ball pitched outside leg or in-line, or whether there was an inside edge on to pad, will the third umpire recommend that the on-field umpire changes his decision.
Peter Roebuck is another fan of the referral system. He says the Sydney Test between India and Australia earlier this year would have been far less ill-tempered if the new system had been in place. Read on in the Hindu.
July 25, 2008
Virtual umpiring will detract from spectator appeal
Posted on 07/25/2008 in Technology
Angus Fraser in the Independent, isn't in favour of the new umpire referrals system as it could devalue the experience of watching cricket at the venue.
Those watching live at a venue will no longer have the best seat in the house, they will be left in the dark every time a referral is sent to the third umpire. It can take a minute or two for the third umpire to get the images he is looking for from the television broadcaster, with an over containing two or three referrals taking seven or eight minutes. After a while punters will question whether it is worth paying £75 for such a view when a better one can be obtained on a sofa at home.
July 20, 2008
In the heat of battle
Posted on 07/20/2008 in South Africa in England 2008
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David Gower thinks that was taken cleanly
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It is amazing there are not more off-field confrontations similar to that between the England captain, Michael Vaughan, and South Africa's AB de Villiers, Angus Fraser says in the Independent on Sunday, given the close proximity of the opposing dressing rooms at most venues. Fraser recollects one such rare flare-up.
There was an ugly incident in a one-day international I played in Barbados when Gladstone Small, one of the nicest men to play cricket for England, pointed to the dressing room when he dismissed Gordon Greenidge, the rather angry West Indian batsman. At the Kensington Oval the dressing rooms are divided by a narrow walkway, and at the end of the match an England player stuck his head in our room to inform us that an irate Greenidge had Small by the throat .
Both Vaughan and de Villiers were at the centre of controversial catches, both of which were given not-out after being referred to the third umpire. In the Sunday Times, David Gower says he thought Vaughan's catch off Hashim Amla was clean, and feels perhaps the player's word should be taken.
My view was that Vaughan had caught it. Sky tried before play yesterday to demonstrate how the ball can look to be on the ground to the long lens when in fact it is safely in a fielder’s hands. The method of Vaughan’s catch, with a dive involved, left it open to suspicion that the ball might have just touched the grass. In our commentary box there was little agreement. I can sympathise with the third umpire and understand there was enough doubt for him to deny the catch.
So here is the key question: should we return to the days when players were trusted to say if a catch was good or should we be heading for greater use of TV pictures to help in the decision making? The answer has to be a bit of both, including selective use of the latter, which could be extended from its current scope to include a second look to check on whether a batsman has hit the ball for a catch or inside-edged it when the arms are up for an lbw appeal.
July 19, 2008
Umpiring cock-eyed
Posted on 07/19/2008 in Technology
Billy Bowden and Daryl Harper had a moderate day, but their reputations could have been saved by use of television replays and a greater trust of the player's word, writes Simon Hughes in the Telegraph.
Unfortunately, the ICC, who rule on how technology should be used, display a total lack of comprehension of its benefits. Television can quickly evaluate whether a ball has brushed a pad or a glove, but cameras used to adjudicate whether a catch has been grassed present a flat image and usually cloud the issue. Yet the umpires are allowed to refer the latter and not the former. They are effectively umpiring cock-eyed.
July 8, 2008
Referrals a must
Posted on 07/08/2008 in Technology
Steve James, in the Telegraph, calls for the increased use of technology to assist umpires and backs the umpire referrals system
For it might have been the first Test series in which the controversial umpire referral system was trialled. But the respective boards could not agree on the finer details, so Sri Lanka and India will become the guinea pigs later this month.
It is a shame. Those believing that such a system will never be in general use at international level are deluded. Believe me, it's coming whether you like it or not. And so it should be. Technology must be embraced.
Why should television viewers at home be able to see an umpire has committed a howler while the side wronged against has no right of appeal?
August 3, 2007
Aussies may face virtual Murali
Posted on 08/03/2007 in Technology
Virtual reality studios, GPS tracking, data mining and neural network software programs - what do all these have to do with cricket, you ask? These are part of a series of technological developments planned to help maintain Australia's domination of world cricket. John Coomber writes in the Brisbane Times:
Cameras will be set up to capture as nearly as possible a batsman's-eye view of the opposition bowlers, and relay the feed to a studio near the Australian dressing room.
Players padded up and waiting to bat will be able to rehearse their innings using images gathered from the middle, and projected life-size back into the pavilion.
Don't you want to hear what Geoffrey Boycott thinks of all this?
March 30, 2007
Cover-up a viewer turn-off
Posted on 03/30/2007 in Miscellaneous
Batsmen may be happier and safer wearing helmets, but, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, they prevent fans seeing the batsmen's faces, which, market research has found, makes it hard for them to relate to the players.
But, as Philip Derriman notes, it’s not all gloom.
If they're bad for TV, they're about the only thing in cricket that is. In other respects, cricket is a broadcaster's dream. It lasts all day; the main action is concentrated in a smallish area; it's essentially a one-on-one (bowler-against-batsman) contest; the game lends itself to endless analysis by commentators; and the short breaks between overs are ideal for slotting in commercials.
May 11, 2006
Hawkeye no match for wise old Bird
Posted on 05/11/2006 in Technology
Mike Selvey is not a fan of the new rule that allows players to appeal against the umpire's decision. Read his views on it in The Guardian.
The very notion of appealing against an umpire's decision, even in this artificially formalised way as advocated by the England coach Duncan Fletcher, is anathema, for the founding block of the game is the acceptance that the decision of the umpire is final.
November 1, 2005
Video killing cricket's culture
Posted on 11/01/2005 in Technology
In the continuing debate over whether the increased use of technology is good for cricket....or not, Brendan McArdle feels that the TV monitor is creating more problems than it is solving.
Our perspective on the game is being distorted. Ricky Ponting's run-out was supposedly the result of England cheating with its 12th man; Shane Warne was robbed of a maiden Test century years ago in Perth because Daniel Vettori's no ball was not called, not because of a moment of madness on 99 by our champion leg spinner.
To read more on the debate, visit Wicket to Wicket, where Cricinfo's writers put forth their views for and against technology.
September 25, 2005
Snickometers, bad light and substitutes
Posted on 09/25/2005 in
Ray White, the former president of the South African board, puts forth his suggestions to improve Test cricket. Read the piece in Natal Witness.
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