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The winner and ‘Player of the Match’ for the first Test of the Ashes Series was, by far, the Decision Review System.
No player or umpire, apart from maybe Aleem Dar, affected the match in such a way.
Stuart Broad made 28 runs after he was mistakenly given not out, and the decision was unable to be reviewed due to Michael Clarke’s previous two unsuccessful review attempts.
Hypothetically, Australia would have clinched the match before the lunch break on Day 5, but no.
Acting outside the spirit of cricket, Broad refused to walk after obviously hitting the ball and being caught at slip, and umpire Dar gave him not out.
It has to be said that Broad refused to go not because he believed he did not hit it, but because he knew that Michael Clarke and the Australian’s had no reviews left.
The system reared it’s ugly head against the English as well though, with Joe Root choosing not to appeal his given out decision, despite replays showing he would have achieved a reprieve; having not hit the ball as was stated.
The following ball, Jonathan Trott was given not out LBW, but an Australian challenge on the decision was accepted and the English batsman was forced to go despite the fact that the key side-on Hot Spot angle, which may have shown an inside edge first, was not available.
A fuming England were later given an apology from the inventor of the Hot Spot system Warren Brennan, however it was little consolation given the see-sawing nature of the innings.
It is easy to see why India do not consent to the use of DRS in it’s current form, and the system needs to be changed to take the power of review from players, and to allow umpires to review decisions they are unsure of.
And, when technology is inconclusive, as in the Haddin dismissal to finish the match, the umpire’s original decision must stand, in this case not out.
The Decision Review system has already influenced this Ashes series to a ridiculous degree, and the ICC must make changes to combat this in the future, hopefully before the Ashes tour of Australia in 2013-14.
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