COLOMBO - Former Sri Lanka captain Tillekeratne Dilshan says that if cricket wants to move forward by using the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) to help umpires minimize errors, the technology that’s used should consist of Hot Spot as well. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is broke and can’t afford to have the expensive Hot Spot cameras, but wealthy cricket nations like Australia, England and South Africa use the technology.
"We can’t control the decisions given by the umpires and we have to accept those decisions. But I can suggest one thing, if we’re going to have UDRS, we should have Hot Spot," Dilshan told journalists after being the victim of a dubious decision yesterday. Dilshan was given caught behind during yesterday’s fourth day’s play off Graeme Swann and the batsman reviewed the decision immediately, but there was no conclusive evidence to suggest whether he had hit it or not and the third umpire could not overturn the decision as he could do so only if he had conclusive evidence again the original decision.
"If the UDRS is applied to international cricket, we should have Hot Spot. Then there’ll be more balance and more decisions will go the right way. I was absolutely sure that I didn’t nick it and that’s why I referred it straightaway. But unfortunately I had to accept the umpire’s decision," Dilshan told journalists yesterday.
Hot Spot is an infra-red imaging system used in cricket to determine whether the ball has struck the batsman’s bat or pad. Hot Spot requires two infra-red cameras on opposite sides of the ground above the field of play that are continuously recording an image. Any suspected snick or bat/pad event can be verified by examining the infra-red image, which usually shows a bright spot where contact has been made.