ICC plans decision review at 2011 World Cup

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ICC plans decision review at 2011 World Cup

SINGAPORE: The International Cricket Council (ICC) plans to implement an umpire decision review system at next year’s World Cup to avoid the refereeing errors that have plagued football’s World Cup in South Africa. A review system will be in place for the 2011 tournament in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh if an agreement can be reached with broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat told reporters Thursday. “We’ve just seen in another World Cup that is going on what happens when match officials get the decisions wrong,” Lorgat said after the ICC’s annual conference in Singapore. “It can have a significant impact on the outcome of a game.” “We’re very keen to use the decision review system at the upcoming World Cup.”

Host members would decide whether to use the review system in home test series, Lorgat said. The ICC Cricket Committee said in May that the system will be the same as the one currently used, with a 15-second window for a team to decide whether to ask for a review. The third umpire will signal after 10 seconds to the umpire in the middle, who will then inform the captain he has another 5 seconds to make his decision. “There are a few issues around cost and the availability of technology that we still must work hard at overcoming,” Lorgat said.

Anti-doping code to take effect in August: The ICC board has approved revised rules with minor amendments to be agreed relating to the “whereabouts” provision of the ICC anti-doping code. The code will come into effect on August 1, 2010. The adoption of the code was delayed because of objections to the ‘whereabouts’ clause raised by the BCCI on behalf of the Indian cricketers. “I am satisfied that we have now resolved the long outstanding issue of filing whereabouts information and the contribution of the BCCI in finding a solution needs to be acknowledged,” Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said in Singapore. “This is a complex area for players and administrators.”

The ICC had become a signatory of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) in 2006, in order to enhance cricket’s credibility as a global sport and to satisfy mandatory requirements for participating in events like the Olympics. Players from India, however, felt the whereabouts clause of the code, which required them to inform WADA of their daily location at the start of every quarter, infringed on their privacy and created security hazards. Lorgat said the concerns had now been addressed and an amicable solution found. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had asked the ICC to give a final push to convince its member boards to accept the contentious whereabouts clause by November 2011, failing which it would be declared non-compliant to the WADA code.

Sharad Pawar becomes new ICC president: Former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar has taken over as ICC president from England’s David Morgan following the body’s annual conference in Singapore. Pawar will lead the ICC for two years after having served as Morgan’s deputy for a similar period, and his appointment comes after the controversial rejection of former Australian prime minister John Howard’s bid for the vice-president’s job. Pawar is the second Indian to hold the ICC’s top job, after Jagmohan Dalmiya’s stint in the late nineties. He praised the leadership of outgoing president Morgan, terming it an ‘impressive innings’. “David Morgan has set the principles by which the ICC operates and now it is our responsibility to build on his legacy,” Pawar said. ap

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