ECB set to test TV referral system

CRICKET:This Test provided confirmation, if any were truly needed, that cricket's use of technology must be expanded. One lbw shout after another was turned down until you wondered whether the game's most intractable "not-outer", Dickie Bird, had come surreptitiously out of retirement, dressed as Rudi Koertzen. Alastair Cook's inexplicable reprieve - when he was plumb to Glenn McGrath - yesterday morning was another in a long line of palpably wrong decisions. At least Koertzen was correct when Andrew Flintoff's back leg was struck by Stuart Clark's reversing inswinger later on.

But change is on the way. In the next few weeks the England and Wales Cricket Board will announce that next season county cricket will trial a referral system in one of its one-day competitions, probably the NatWest Pro40, and obviously only in televised matches.

Such a proposal, whereby both the fielding and batting sides can refer three decisions in each innings to the TV third umpire, was rejected last May by the International Cricket Council. The perceived reason was that such a system goes against one of cricket's fundamental tenets - that the umpire's word is final - but it appears fear of failure was a more pertinent block.

Reservations the game will be excessively held up can be allayed by the fact that referrals will need to be made quickly - probably in a 10-second period after the umpire has made his decision - and also by the proviso that only if such an appeal is successful (that is, the umpire's decision is proved erroneous) will a side retain all three of their appeals. If they are unsuccessful then a referral is lost, removing the possibility of overly optimistic referrals.

There will be difficulties, though, and one factor behind the ECB's delay in formally announcing their revolutionary move is the fine detail. It has been mooted lbw decisions might not be included.

But of more relevance will be the question of how much use is made of technology aids such as the Snickometer, Hawkeye and the lbw tramlines. None is infallible.

Meanwhile, Australia's three-day rout of England in the fourth Ashes Test yesterday is expected to cost local officials more than three-million Australian dollars (€1.8 million) in lost revenue. England's pitiful batting collapse that saw the match finish has forced Cricket Victoria to refund almost 50,000 pre-sold tickets and any profits they would have made from other walk-up sales.

Almost 90,000 turned up on the first day and more than 75,000 on each of the next two days.

Cricket Victoria chief executive Ken Jacobs told reporters officials were disappointed the match finished so early but the attendances over the first three days had still made it their most lucrative match in a decade.

"It has still been our biggest Test match revenue-wise in the last 10 years, at least. The overall figure of 244,351 (spectators) is way above our normal total attendance - 180,000-190,000 has been our high point over the last 20 years."

Guardian Service