Spidercam will surely come under fire after an incident on the third day of the Sydney Test at the SCG.
Australian captain Steve Smith was under a skied ball while Rahul was on 46 at the end of the first session, after he mishit a ball off the bowling of Shane Watson.
LIVE SCORES OF DAY THREE BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND INDA
He dropped the catch, and immediately afterward pointed skywards, seemingly gesturing at Spidercam. There were suggestions from commentators that the ball had struck the wire or ‘web’ of Spidercam on its way down, distracting Smith in his attempt to take the catch.
Channel Nine have denied that the ball struck the camera or any part of the wire.
In a joint statement, Nine and Cricket Australia have said the ball did not touch the camera or the wire.
They did, however, concede the Australian “Captain Steve Smith was distracted by one of the wires in his eye line.”
“We (CA & Nine) have spoken about the matter involving Spidercam and the dropped catch before lunch and it’s clear the ball did not hit the camera or its supporting wires,” the joint statement read.
“Both CA and Nine will continue to work together on the use of Spidercam in the broadcast coverage and will take on board any player feedback as necessary.
“As it stands, if any player has a concern about the placement of Spidercam they can ask the umpires for it to be moved.”
Speaking on ABC Grandstand’s commentary, former Test batsman Ed Cowan insisted that even if the ball did not touch the wires, the camera moving in Steve Smith’s vision would have been distracting enough for him to drop the catch.
Cowan cheekily added that even if the ball hadn’t struck any part of the contraption, “I would have blamed Spidercam.”
It is the first time a controversy like this has hit Spidercam this summer, despite its presence in the one day series against South Africa and every Test against India.
But some have made the point that with a camera on the field of play, incidents like this are an inevitability, rather than a freak incident.
At the time of the drop, the game was delicately poised at 2/113. Rahul had not yet reached his half century, and Australian spinner Nathan Lyon was pressing for more wickets after dismissing Rohit Sharma earlier.
What impact this incident will have on the game, and whether Smith is right in pointing the finger of blame at Spidercam, will be uncovered in the coming sessions.
And it wouldn’t be the first time the ball has hit Spidercam, with a game between the Sydney Sixers and Mumbai Indians in the T20 Champions League providing a good example.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Smith has had complaints about spider cam before to the extent the camera had to be moved behind Smith when he was batting. So this is not an isolated incident. It's technology for the sake of technology, nothing more. The high shots can be taken from the top level of the grandstands behind the wickets.
Chris
Guest
what happens if instead of spidercam it was a bird? i dont understand how what a batsmen does before a ball is bowled is relevant, they are completely different instances. a batsman cant step away when the ball has already been bowled if there is a bird flying behind the bowler just as fieldsman cannot claim a bird flying around when he is waiting for the ball to drop is grounds for a pause or whatever. if spidercam had been a bird we would have said harden up smith you dropped a sitter. which he did. at this level of play you cant be distracted by a black camera that you know is there that was really quite far away from the ball the entire play.
Albo
Guest
The view above a scrum ? What is of interest there ? In a League scrum you will be lucky to see anything but a few forwards having a ten second breather, and if a Union scrum , I guess you might like to see what a collapsed Aussie pack looks like from above ?
Bobbo7
Guest
Yes, an excuse. It was a sitter and even with a bird fling past. a park cricketer would have taken that 8 times and 10. If an Indian fielder blamed spider cam they would be called a whinger. Suck it up Smith - you dropped a sitter
jamesb
Guest
Smith should've caught it, while at the same time, get rid of Spidercam.
jamesb
Guest
,.........and the Rugby Union scrum is soooooo entertaining. I love it how they start and restart the scrum. It takes about five minutes to get the scrum over and done with.
The Curl
Guest
Having said that, Smith was clearly distracted by the sun as well, however he is an Australian Test Cricketer and he should have caught it even if it bounced off the moon. I think Smith just had a bad day in the field, having also missed a sitter from second slip. He is a young captain and has great potential, but he needs to keep his head at all times. It looked to me like he was getting a bit frustrated in the field yesterday. Lets see how he recovers today.
The Curl
Guest
Its just as well that it was Australia that dropped the catch and not India.
b
Guest
Having distractions straight above in an otherwise clear blue sky is quite new. I haven't heard what Smith had to say about the incident, but was it simply the distraction of the camera/wires, or did the movement of the wires give the impression they had hit the ball and changed it's line, or did the wires catch the sun and flash into his eyes? When a bird flies near the batsmen's line of sight as the bowler is coming in to bowl, the batsmen usually pull away and the ball is rebowled, unfortunately when it comes to a camera flying in the face of a fielder the catch can't be retaken. Get rid of the gimmicky camera. It's also funny that Nine and CA say players can have the camera moved. What use is it for Smith to askfor the camera to be moved after it has interfered with play? Can a player say get rid of the thing entirely at the start of a days play?
b
Guest
Yes and no. Some people are sensible, some are not.
b
Guest
I hope you are referring to Rugby, not Rugby League, as the Rugby League scrums are the biggest joke in sports anywhere in the world and not worth watching from any angle.
JeffRo
Roar Pro
Sounds like an excuse for dropping a sitter. It didn't hit the wire, yes in his eyeline, but having distractions while lining up a catch is nothing new.
Die hard
Roar Rookie
The view above a scrum is useful.
eddie
Guest
If an Indian fielder had dropped a catch and blamed it on spider cam, would the reaction be the same?
glen ridgwell
Guest
The game has been destroyed with rule changes and third umpire reviews now we have cameras upsetting the let's go back to the nineties when cricket was worth watching
Albo
Guest
I am surprised it has taken so long for this issue of Spidercam to finally be raised. Spidercam is probably the most useless piece of TV coverage equipment ever developed ( apart from hand held film cameras !) It is technology for technology's sake, and offers nothing of any value to the viewers coverage( of football or cricket) that can't be exceeded by strategically placed fixed cameras. Spidercam can only contribute to the distraction problems, for cricketers in particular.