- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Adelaide Test brought up many topics for discussion, but one that seems to have slipped through the cracks is a worrying trend that’s become more and more prevalent in recent years: The refusal of international umpires to call no balls.
It came up during this Test match when Ishant Sharma was definitely once and potentially twice denied wickets through no balls.
When the broadcaster went back and looked at his bowling on the front line he was shown to be overstepping on pretty much every ball he bowled.
Legal deliveries were actually the rarity, and among those deliveries, some were a long way over.
Yet it wasn’t until during the second innings that one was finally called, interestingly enough when there was a big shout for LBW.
I get it. Umpires have a lot to think about. I’m not without some umpiring experience, and there can be a lot of pressure.
In some cases, a bowler’s delivery stride makes it hard to see where their front foot lands, but it’s still important to find a position you can stand in where it’s possible to see this.
It’s a trend I’ve seen more and more. No balls are so rarely called by on-field umpires in international cricket these days, and it’s not because bowlers have got better at no bowling them.
It’s reached the point where I guarantee – though I have no idea how to find such a stat, so it’s really just based on feelings and hunches from watching lots of cricket over the years – that while this has coincided with the ability of the third umpire to check no balls when a wicket falls, it’s also dramatically increased the number of wickets taken off no balls.
Not just because they can check them then, but because umpires aren’t calling them the rest of the time, meaning that bowlers are going to be bowling a lot more no balls as the umpire never pulls them up on it when they do.
So these no balls not being called are robbing batting teams of runs, potential free hits in the white ball games – where umpires are still just as likely to miss no balls in recent times – and increasing the chance of wickets being taken on no balls – as the bowlers are never going to get pulled up until the wicket falls.
I’ve heard all sorts of talk about how technology could help.
I don’t see why the third umpire can’t just sit watching the side view of the front foot live shot and just quickly tell the on-field umpire if the bowler bowls a no ball.
Surely that would be easy to do.
But here’s a novel suggestion: How about umpires just go back to calling no balls on the field? They did it for years.
Sure, still check close ones when a wicket falls, but the rest of the time just call it like they always did.
I believe I heard some suggestion that there was a worry about calling the no ball on the field, that if a wicket fell and they didn’t call a no ball, it could check, overrule and make it a no ball, but if they call the no ball and then the video check confirms they incorrectly called it, then they can’t overrule that.
It seems a bit of a lame excuse, but let’s say we go for that – there is still an easy solution to that.
Just leave the umpire calling the no ball until after the ball is complete, as they do on all other decisions.
The fact is that calling the no ball straight away isn’t (unless it’s a slow spinner) giving the batsman a chance to change their stroke based on hearing the call, so just call the no ball once the play is complete and that takes that issue out of it.
But stop just letting all the no balls go and only checking when a wicket falls. Enough of that.
Something has to be done about this. It can’t just keep going on and on.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.