Referrals will improve cricket: Morgan

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Referrals will improve cricket: Morgan

LONDON: World cricket''s leading administrator has said the controversial Umpire Review System will ultimately lead to better decision-making and may even improve the spirit in which the game is played.

The system, which allows teams to challenge the on-field officials'' decision by seeking to have it overturned by the third, television umpire, is designed to ensure obvious mistakes are corrected.

But in the ongoing Australia-West Indies there have been a number of occasions where the system has appeared unable to provide sufficient certainty, with the third umpire sometimes over-ruling the men in the middle on the basis of questionable evidence.

However, International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan said the sport could no longer ignore the march of broadcast technology.

And he insisted the referral system was not why English umpire Mark Benson had quit the second Test between Australia and the West Indies in Adelaide. Benson, who has a history of heart problems, said his decision to walk out during the match was taken on health grounds.

"I don''t think umpires have been asked to carry too much," Morgan told a meeting of the Indian Journalists'' Association at the Oval here on Wednesday.

"I was in Adelaide and talked to (match referee) Chris Broad after Mark had left the scene," Morgan, who stressed the system was not the cause of Benson''s exit, added.

"Umpiring at Test match level is a very difficult job and we are fortunate to have some very good umpires on the elite panel," Morgan said.

"The Decision Review System is complex at first, but I believe it will improve the number of good decisions and also improve the level of the spirit of play.

"There are guidelines for the third umpire. He should support his colleagues on the field if the evidence is inconclusive."

Supporters of the new system argue it was ludicrous that television viewers were better informed about certain incidents than the on-field umpires and Morgan said: "We couldn''t go on the way we were.

"This is likely to be the best route."

[Mohammad Sajid]

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