Techno-cricket: Fair, but too bland

Tech innovations could soon have matches go much longer, writes Kadambari Murali.

Technological innovations could soon have matches getting longer and longer and the game acquiring a strangely cut and dry avatar. Concepts like benefit of doubt are probably on their way out if the way the game has been umpired these past couple of days becomes the norm.

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And while that might make things extremely correct, and though it might be too early to pass judgment on something still in its infancy, it does seem like too much technology could take away the romance of cricket. On the second ball of the morning, Adam Gilchrist left even as Aussie fans were settling down to watch a vintage knock, lbw Flintoff, courtesy a decision by Rudi Koertzen/ Darrel Hair. It wasn't that he didn't look out, he looked pretty plumb.

But it seemed somewhat unnecessary for Koertzen to not trust his own judgment and ask for Hair's opinion. About a half hour later, after the Aussie first innings folded up quickly, Koertzen checked with Hair again on whether Graeme Smith was out leg-before. It looked high and Hair probably said as much because Koertzen gave the gathering Aussies the thumbs down.

Still again, the Koertzen-Hair combine came into action and decided that Lara was lbw (again, when it seemed the on-field umpire could have made his own decision). This actually, was to become an epidemic, as the second ball Inzamam faced, Koertzen checked with Hair on an lbw decision (not out). Next over, the third umpire (called by Simon Taufel) rightly adjudged that Inzamam was out (foot in the air). Spectators were obviously tired of the business though, because two balls later, there was a big cheer when MacGill appealed for an lbw against Flintoff and Taufel decided on his own that the batsman was okay.

While one can understand the ICC's need to want to make the game foolproof, there should be some system to prevent it from getting too antiseptic. More practically, can you imagine a situation like the umpire calling for the third umpire's opinion every time there's a spin combine bowling on one of the subcontinent's turning tracks? You can forget about optimum over-rates then. Cricket is what it is because it is not always perfect.