The discussion concerning the Decision Review System (DRS) is always a red-hot topic among the cricket fans and experts of the game. The role of ‘Umpire’s call’ gets even more attention after many decisions, which created controversies in recent time.
After the end of the four-match Test series between India and England, the debate of DRS once again occurred where many pundits and admirers of the game had different opinions. Even India legend Sachin Tendulkar had asked ICC to look into DRS in December last year.
Now, Australian pace sensation Pat Cummins has also laid down his stance on the DRS system and said it always gives a disadvantage to bowlers. Cummins opined that LBW calls are more often than not stay on the side of batsmen.
Cummins has suggested two modifications in the current DRS concept and questioned why the bails are not counted in the hitting zone when umpires check for LBW decisions.
“They measure the 50 per cent of the ball not from the top of the bail, but from the line you see from the top of the stump,” said Cummins as quoted by News.com.au.
“So you almost need 70 per cent of the ball. It brings down the area you’ve got to be hitting the stumps to quite small,” he added.
Cummins said that for tall bowlers, the current rule always comes in as a disadvantage. He also gave an example of teammate Nathan Lyon, stating the offie gets lots of bounce and its hard for him to claim an lbw.
“It almost has to be a half-volley for someone who’s quite tall, or you have to be bowling so straight from stump to stump. Nathan Lyon bowling here in Australia obviously gets quite a lot of bounce — it’s so hard for him to get an lbw,” articulated Cummins.
The New South Wales captain also maintained that teams should not lose a review in the absence of concrete evidence regarding caught behind referrals.
“I understand it’s there for the howler; they keep saying. But I don’t understand why then nicks behind are so black and white. I know he’s either nicked it, or he hasn’t, but there are times where you’re not 100 per cent whether snicko lines up or you can’t say for certain whether he’s copped glove,” Cummins added further.
