ICC ready to consider uniform DRS from later this year

Full implementation of DRS likely in October after proposals were approved in ICC’s Dubai meeting last week. The world body could contribute more to the cost.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is ready to use the Decision Review System (DRS) on a full-time basis across all formats of the game from later this year. According to an ICC media release, DRS is set to be used in the ICC Champions Trophy, all televised games of the Women’s World Cup and in all future World Twenty20 games. The ICC also added that post 2017, technology used for DRS would be vetted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Joe Root’s contentious lbw in the second T20I against India last month may have prompted the ICC to have uniform DRS. (REUTERS)

“The Chief Executives’ Committee agreed to the principle of a consistent use of DRS technology across all international cricket. A full implementation plan will be considered by the ICC Cricket Committee in May before approval in June for roll-out from October 2017,” the release said. The ICC annual conference would be held in London in June around the Champions Trophy.

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According to ESPNcricinfo, it was proposed at last week’s meeting in Dubai that the ICC subsidise the cost of using DRS to reduce the financial stress for some member boards. Right now, members are allowed to have a say on whether to have DRS in bilateral series. In most cases the series broadcasters bear the DRS expense, but now there is a move to get ICC to fund to ensure consistency in the use of technology.

However, DRS was used on a trial basis in the Test series before that which India won 4-0.