As technology in sport becomes continually more advanced and useful, even the usually traditionalist ICC have (to their credit) introduced new measures to assist umpires and ensure better calls are made during play.
Unlike Channel Nine’s attempts at introducing technology during their broadcast, to date these have mostly been very successful.
Hawk-eye, real time snicko, hot-spot and going further back even things like stump cameras and speed guns have all assisted viewers and umpires alike.
This World Cup has seen its own new technology introduced in the form of the ‘Zing bails’. Although not strictly speaking new – the ICC approved the usage of the bails in 2012 and they have been used in the Big Bash League since – the 2015 World Cup could well be considered their formal debut on the world stage.
For the most part they passed with flying colours. The sensors were thought tacky by some, but the visual aid given to umpires for run-outs and stumpings has been valuable. Even the spectacle of the stumps lighting up has grown on many.
The bails can detect the wicket being broken within 1/1000th of a second, with these sensors relaying this information to LED lights to provide a visual representation. But with this technology comes the downside – this equipment requires small batteries and thus the weight of the bails is increased.
There were three key incidents in this World Cup where the weight of the bails seemed to come into play. The first involved Ireland’s Ed Joyce from a ball bowled by the UAE’s Amjad Javed.
Javed beat Joyce and the ball clipped the off stump, disturbing both bails from their grooves. But they were not removed, settling back into the stumps and Joyce was not given out.
It seemed an anomaly, that is before the Australia-Pakistan quarter-final where Pakistan captain Misbah Ul-Haq was given a reprieve from a ball bowled by Josh Hazelwood.
Hazelwood’s ball clipped Ul-Haq’s thigh pad and the ball flicked onto the leg stump, disturbing the bail and causing the lights to flash. Again, the bail settled and Ul-Haq was given not out.
The third may be lost in celebration somewhat, but is nontheless another important example.
Steve Smith was at the crease in a small chase during the World Cup final on 16* when he chopped a ball down which deflected off his back foot and gently rolled into the stumps.
On this occasion the bails didn’t light up and barely moved – Smith was again not out.
There are two schools of thought at play here. The first is that these are isolated incidents unrelated to the Zing bails and are simply a coincidence, easily seen to the public eye at large due to the sheer amount of cricket being played during a World Cup.
The second is that the bails are either too heavy or need to be settled differently onto the grooves of the stumps to prevent beneficiaries like Joyce, Ul-Haq and Smith from being let off again in the future from an introduced technology.
The fact is that the Zing bails are marginally heavier than the regular bails used during test and ODI cricket. The difference is small but it could be argued that it is enough to allow batsmen like the aforementioned to survive in situations where they would normally have been out.
But the Zing bails are lighter than the dense ‘wind bails’ used in blustery conditions (often made from lignum vitae or a similar substitute) and although their use isn’t as common, similar questions have not been raised.
Zing bails have not suddenly brought about incidents of batsmen having their stumps disturbed but the bails not removed. In the third test of the England vs New Zealand series of 2013 Matt Prior fended away a short ball which flew behind him and then down onto the stumps.
The Kiwi’s celebrated but the bails were not moved. Recent history provides other similar incidents, albeit not at the same rate as which we’ve seen them during the World Cup.
So what’s the answer? Do the benefits outweigh any possible future let-offs for batsmen? Is there an easy fix and indeed, are the Zing bails a necessary part going forward?
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