Richardson: ICC must take control of DRS

ICC chief David Richardson has stated that the sport's ruling body should look towards taking control of the Decision Review System (DRS), so that it is applied universally and fairly.

The ICC addressed a number of issues at their recent annual conference, including ‘umpire’s call’, incorrectly called no-balls and helmet safety among other things, and indicated that they would take greater control of DRS.

As it stands, some countries, like Zimbabwe, don't use full DRS, even for international matches, as it's expensive, while India refuse to use it at all, saying it is flawed and inaccurate.

Richardson, a former South Africa wicketkeeper, feels the ICC must make sure the system is as accurate as possible, make sure all countries have access to it, and that all boards are happy to use it.

He said: "Moving forward, we probably need to take heed of what the ICC Cricket Committee is saying, which is ICC should take more control over DRS.

"So the implications of that needs to be worked out now – what it’s going to cost, what it’s going to take for ICC to take more control, do we need to buy technologies, rent technologies, etc.

"Hopefully, we will be able to implement down the line a more consistent form of DRS. Wherever it is used, it should be the same, so that the players understand it, the umpires understand it and the fans understand it as well.

"If we're going to have DRS, it must be consistently applied. Once we get a system everyone trusts, then we'll much closer to having a system which all teams will accept."

Latest