The International Cricket Council’s decision to approve the use of Real-Time Snickometer has been welcomed by the Australia and Pakistan teams ahead of their series in the United Arab Emirates.
Unfortunately it appears the technology won’t be used.
The ICC released a statement on Wednesday outlining changes to playing conditions, including the extension of T20 International innings from 80 minutes to 85 minutes.
It also said: “The trial regulation allowing an 80-over top-up of unsuccessful DRS player reviews has been extended for another 12 months (Clause 3.5), while Real-Time Snickometer has been included in the ICC List of Approved Technology (Clause 3.7).”
Australia face Pakistan in a T20 clash on Sunday (Monday morning AEDT) in Dubai, followed by three one-dayers and two Tests.
T20 skipper Aaron Finch and his Pakistan rival Shahid Afridi were both asked about real-time snicko on Saturday at their pre-match media conferences and welcomed the news.
It’s understood Pakistan Cricket Board’s current host broadcaster Ten Sports won’t be providing the technology because of the cost.
The PCB’s habit of chopping and changing host broadcasters may also make it difficult to convince TV networks to invest in the technology when they don’t have a long-term deal.
“Over time there has been a few small issues with the technology,” Finch said.
“There has been a couple of cases where it might be slightly out or it hasn’t quite been up to speed.
“What they’re doing now is they’re getting close to a really good system that works the majority of the time.
“If you’re making the correct decision more often than not and it’s not affecting the result of the game because the technology’s not up to scratch, that’s a real positive.”
Afridi said it would simplify the game.
“If you have technology, please each and every game bring it,” he said.
HOW REAL-TIME SNICKO WORKS
* Snickometer wasn’t previously part of the tools available to the third umpire when reviewing a decision. The only audio aid was the audio recorded by the stump microphone, because linking the audio with the vision had proved to be too time-consuming. But Real-Time Snickometer which was trialled in Australia during the 2013-14 Ashes has made the process almost instantaneous.
– Source: cricinfo.com
