Poor umpiring stirs debate over technology use

Sydney: The ongoing Sydney Test has again stirred a debate over the use of technology to assist umpires following some contentious rulings.

Australia's legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee has a measured approach. He has no problems with technology that assists in helping umpires adjudicate correctly on run-outs and stumpings, but he has reservations and said: "I am afraid 'Hawk-Eye' and his mate, the 'snickometer', are pure gadgetry."

England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Lord MacLaurin has a different opinion. After several contentious calls in England's Test series in Sri Lanka last month, Lord MacLaurin called for greater use of technology.

"We should look and see how we can use technology sensibly," he said. "We don't want to slow the game down, but we have to get our decisions better."

That was never more evident than on Wednesday when English umpire Mark Benson made two mistakes - one poor, the other a howler - and veteran West Indian Steve Bucknor added one of his own.

Benson first failed to hear Ricky Ponting's leg-side tickle off Sourav Ganguly, giving the Australian captain a reprieve on 17. Official broadcaster Channel 9's "snickometer" confirmed the edge, and gave viewers the correct call.

It did, however, take about three overs to compute the information.

But surely the technology will soon be there for a prompt answer. When it is available it must be used.

Benson was again under fire when he missed Ponting's thick inside edge on to his pads and adjudged the Australian captain leg before wicket to a Harbhajan Singh doosra.

It was a howler of a call, and the look of disdain on Ponting's face and the angry slap of his pad as he trudged from the field said it all.

This blunder could have been avoided had Benson been allowed to consult the third umpire.

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A quick replay was all it would have taken. There would have been little, if no, delay to the game.

Instead, most spectators were left to utter that sports adage: "That was the square-up".

Bucknor added to the frustration when he gave Andrew Symonds a reprieve on 30, rejecting an appeal for a clear caught behind off devastated young quick Ishant Sharma.

"Through our stump microphone you heard a big edge," commentator and former captain Mark Taylor said. "That was a real blue there."

Again, it could have been avoided had the third umpire sitting in front of a TV screen been involved.

At a time when officials are floating such revolutionary changes as day-night Test cricket, surely the game is better off trying to do everything possible to get basic on-field decisions right.

With cricket now awash with cash, no longer can the nostalgic view that human error adds to the mystique of the sport be retained. This is a professional business with livelihoods on the line.

From the time a child picks up a bat, they are told to respect the umpire's decision.

But that respect will clearly be lost if international umpires cannot use technology, when required, for more than just run-outs and stumpings. Cricket must move with the times.