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Early indications of the new technology that is being used by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to assist umpires officiating in the Champions trophy tournament in Colombo indicate that it is going on smoothly without a hitch.

An assessment of statistics for the experimental use of TV technology has shown that there have been 24 third umpire consultations made in the first six pool matches. Of these, 11 have been for 'new' categories of decision making, with eight lbw and three caught decisions being passed to the third official. Four of the lbw consultations were given out, while each of the three caught appeals were adjudged as not out.

The remaining 13 consultations, for existing 'line decisions', resulted in six of the 12 run outs given out, while the lone stumping was adjudged not out. On average, consultations have taken just under one minute to provide a final umpire's decision, suggesting that greater use of replay technology is not slowing the flow of the game to any significant effect. Supporting this observation is the fact that there have been only two over rate penalties - both of one over - in the six completed matches. These were attributed to other playing factors.

"Any definitive conclusions on this trial will obviously have to wait until the end of the tournament, but these early figures give an interesting insight into progress so far," said ICC's general manager-cricket David Richardson. According to Richardson the communications technology linking the four umpires with the TV producer is also proving to be very effective.

"From the umpires perspective, the UCV's (Umpire Communication Vests), which contain the receiver and microphone, are pretty comfortable to wear, even in the extreme heat and humidity of Colombo which is tough as you will find in international cricket. Just as important the quality of sound and the reliability of the links has been of a very high and consistent standard," Richardson said.

The ICC Champions trophy is world cricket's first comprehensive trial of the extended use of TV replay technology in aiding umpires' decision making. At the end of the tournament the ICC will analyse all aspects of the trial and consult with all parties involved, as the game seeks to reach a definitive position on the future use of umpiring technology.

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