Dubai
Front-foot no ball technology will be used for the first time in a global cricket tournament later this month at the women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday.
The television umpire will monitor the landing position of the front foot after every ball and tell the on-field umpires if a bowler oversteps. Umpires have often had to call back batsmen in recent years following TV replays which have revealed no balls.
But the ICC said recent trials in India and the West Indies of using a TV official for every ball resulted in 100 per cent of 4,717 deliveries being judged accurately. “No balls are difficult for umpires to call accurately, and even though the percentage of deliveries that are no balls is low, it is important to call them correctly,” said ICC general manager Geoff Allardice. “Since we first trialled this concept in the ODI series between England and Pakistan in 2016 the technology has improved significantly.” The women’s T20 World Cup runs from February 21 until March 8.—APP
