The third Test in the Ashes series is underway and last night, Australian time, Australia finally managed to get some runs on the board, although it was not without controversy. I do not understand why they are using the DRS system when it is not being used in the manner intended. I am no expert on cricket but even blind Freddy could see that the first DRS decision was blatantly wrong. Later in the innings a second DRS decision was incorrect. Why persist with this method when I am sure most people would be happy to accept the field umpire’s decision in the first place, particularly if we continue to have questionable DRS decisions. The whole point of the DRS was to ensure that the umpire had not made the wrong decision in those cases where it was marginal.
This newspaper article gives you more detail about the DRS system and the controversy surrounding it. In the meantime I am glad I am not an umpire as it must be so difficult to make a decision when you don’t have the benefit of slow motion replay and hawk-eye. Oh wait a minute isn’t that what the third umpire has? 🙂
There is an excellent explanation of how hawk-eye works at this website.
Gippsland Granny 