BCCI opposition to UDRS - irrational and unconvincing

Senaka WEERARATNA

It is time that Cricket lovers of India join hands with the rest of the Cricket loving world to drive home to the rather rigid mind set of the controllers of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that their stance on opposing UDRS without good convincing reasons, make them appear ridiculous and silly in the eyes of all right thinking people.

Rules including cricket rules are there to serve a purpose and once it is abundantly clear that a new mechanism harnessing technology to achieve greater accuracy in umpire decision making is readily available, then the obligation of the controllers of the game is to embrace that new mechanism and apply it as part of the rules of the game.

The UDRS Rules which are primarily based on my 'player - referral' mechanism which I expounded for the first time in the world beginning in March 1997 (see letter to the Editor, 'Australian' - March 25, 1997) constitute that sensible approach. UDRS has reduced umpiring errors to a substantial degree through a correction using the Third Umpire and video replay based on player referral.

The point that it is not 100% accurate is not necessarily a sound logical basis to reject it. The Traditional Umpire system using field umpires exclusively without reference to a Third Umpire and video replay is not even 80% accurate.

This was clearly illustrated in the recent First Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan played in Galle without UDRS. It had altogether 12 umpiring errors (9 against Pakistan and 3 against Sri Lanka), vividly highlighted by video replays.

Must a system be 100% fool proof for society to embrace it? It never happens in other spheres of life. Aircraft, Locomotives, Motor Vehicles and the like all have an accident prone factor embedded in them. But we still use them. Progress is never measured by negatives. When merit far outweighs demerit as in the UDRS then there is a strong case for its application.

The obstinacy of the BCCI on this issue has caused irreparable damage to the cricket image of India and more importantly undermined the confidence that the cricket lovers all over the world can be expected to place on the BCCI in the context of India's new found clout in international cricket and the wider international arena.

The conduct of BCCI on this issue is morally indefensible. It must respect the collective wisdom of the Cricket Boards of almost all the other Test Cricket playing nations which have unreservedly accepted the UDRS.

BCCI must accept the challenge to give leadership in international cricket based on universal perspectives rather than on narrow self - interest. It must begin by supporting UDRS which would be consistent with espousal of fair play and more importantly the spirit of cricket.