England one-day captain Alastair Cook said on Monday he supported the mandatory use of the Decision Review System (DRS) in all international matches.
Cook’s comments came on a day when India, previously adamantly opposed to DRS, softened its stance to allow the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executives’ committee to recommend a modified form of the system be used in all Tests and one-day internationals.
That means devices such as “Hot Spot” and other infra-red technologies, as well as audio tracking equipment such as “Snicko,” all used to detect thin edges, are set to become standard features worldwide.
Photo: AFP
However, Indian officials have been vocal critics of using the predictive ball-tracking system for leg before wicket decisions. These have been excluded from the proposed compulsory package, but teams will, provided they both agree, be able to use devices such as “Hawkeye” to challenge the leg before wicket verdicts of the on-field umpires.
Cook, speaking ahead of his debut as England’s permanent one-day captain, said: “I believe DRS helps get more right decisions, which is the most important thing. What we need is players getting the right decisions, whether they are in or out, and that is the end of the matter.”
The ICC’s announcement means England’s forthcoming Test series at home to India, which starts next month, is set to include the revised version of DRS, something that was set to be absent entirely because of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s previous hostility to the system.
Meanwhile, the ICC also opened the door on Monday for non-Test playing nations to compete in the next World Cup, reversing a bar that had outraged “minnows” such as Ireland and the Netherlands.
The ICC said it had recommended a qualifying process for the 2015 tournament, without specifying the number of teams.
The recommendation rows back on the ICC’s unpopular decision to limit the 2015 World Cup, in Australia and New Zealand, to the 10 full-member teams — excluding Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, Kenya and other countries.
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