The First 1 !!

Hello All !!! Welcome to my blog .. Thought about writing a blog many times before but never actually got down to it .. Which happens many times .. We decide to do sooo many things but we never actually do them .. So hopefully this will be the start of a new approach in which there will be less of planning and procrastinating and more of implementing ...

Anyways let me start by actually writing something specific instead of typing whatever comes to my head .. Those of you who know me or who have seen my profile on the net will know that I'm an avid Cricket fan .. Though I like to play and watch many other Sports, Cricket always comes first ... So I thought that it would be fitting if I start my blogging career by writing something about the Gentleman's Game (is it still called that ?? )

So lets get to the biggest talking point right now in Cricket .. Apart from Ajantha Mendis' carrom ball I think it definitely its the Review System which is on trial in the India-Sri Lanka test series going on right now .. Already we have many controversies over it .. Many bouquets and brickbats already thrown at it .. So I'll try to analyze it from my point of view and I expect many bouquets and brickbats from everyone about it .. the former will be preferred :)

The Review System !! Finally some initiative shown by the ICC .. I think the last change they tried in the game was the induction of power plays and Super Sub .. And before that I guess it was the Field Restrictions in ODIs which was in the early 90s .. So I guess they've improved considering they didn't take a decade this time to try something new ..

Using TV replays for decision is not new .. It was first tried out by the ICC during India's tour of South Africa in 1992/93 and Sachin Tendulkar was the first person to be given out by the Third Umpire .. I guess he can't resist creating history .. At that time TV replays were only asked for line decisions like run outs and stumpings .. Then it started with checking a boundary or a catch .. Now in this India-Sri Lanka series it is being tried out for all decisions .. Both the sides will get 3 referrals per innings and only incorrect ones will be counted .. Just like tennis .. One test is already over and India has been shamed by the Lankans .. Coincidently India didn't get a single review in their favor while the Lankans got most of them ...

So now to get to the point finally .. Do I think that its a good system and should be continued ? Well I will have to say NO !! Atleast at this point .. There are many reasons for this which I will definitely elaborate .. The first and foremost being this .. Earlier I mentioned a similarity of this system to the one used in Tennis .. Well the most important dissimilarity is that unlike Tennis in which the Electronic -Eye is Fool-Proof and shows even the slightest of touches with the line, the system used in cricket i.e the Hawk-Eye is not at all foolproof ...

The Hawk Eye which is used for resolving LBW decisions is not accepted as the be all and end all in the cricketing community .. It most of the times shows the ball to hit the stumps and has come under severe criticism by many ex-cricketers most notable Navjot Siddhu and Geoffery Boycott .. Now I am not saying that I listen to everything Siddhu says which is not possible for anyone in the world .. But I do agree with him that Hawk Eye cannot be relied on to give the correct decision every time ..

The MAT which is used to show the line of the stumps is quite a nice tool .. However the problem arises when we see that half the ball is in the mat while the other half is outside .. In this case how is the umpire supposed to make a decision .. Another thing about Hawk Eye .. Many times it shows the ball to have clipped the bail or a fraction of the leg stump .. Now in this case is the Third Umpire supposed to give the batsman out ?? Since about 131 years the laws of cricket have always given the benefit of doubt to the batsman .. If batsman are sent back to the pavilion because a slight part of the ball was touching the slight part of the bail then I guess it is time to change the laws ..

Going on to another mode of dismissal .. The Caught behind .. For this I think we use the Snicko-meter which most of the times gives the correct output but fails to catch faint edges and catches many other noises .. Can it be relied on ?? I'm not too sure .. One technique which seems pretty good is the Hot-Spot used by Channel 9 .. It uses infra red imaging to identify the heat generated by the bat hitting the ball .. Haven't seen much of it but sounds awesome ..

The biggest problem is when the TV replays are used to judge on a dubious catch .. Due to the cameras and their angle the ball ALWAYS looks to have bounced before the fielder gets his hands on it .. This is a major shortcoming and should be seriously reviewed (pun not intended) .. Unfortunately due to reputation of Ponting, Clarke etc we cannot rely on the fielder anymore ..

So all in all these seem pretty grave doubts to me and hence I think before finalizing the review system they should be considered and certain guidelines need to be set .. e.g. The guideline for the fraction of the ball pitching inline with the stumps or hitting the stumps .. Or to whom are we giving the benefit of the doubt etc .. The worst part is when teams will feel hard done by even in the face of the review system which will devalue the whole concept of the system ..

So in this way I now end my first blog .. Hope you enjoy reading it and please post your comments .. I would really like that ...

Finally a special note for all my friends who are embarking on their journey to pursue their MS in various streams .. Others forgive me for using the public domain for this message ... "All the very best and may you be successful in whatever you do !!! "