*Official* England in South Africa

[GIMH]

Smith's FCA has been turd in this series so Swanneh gets MOTS, thanks

 

[kingkallis]

Rain to help the poor Poms???

 

[GIMH]

Maybe SABC will blindfold the umpires so they can't see the rain?

 

[Pratters]

Well done Smith and Amla. (Y)

 

[marc71178]

Smith's FCA has been turd in this series so Swanneh gets MOTS, thanks

Ah, but that depends on the purveyor of the FCA farce theory to decide what a chance is.

Since he loves Smith I suspect that one won't go down as such...

 

[Daryl Harper]

England have become the masters of manufacturig the series steal.

 

[kingkallis]

England have become the masters of manufacturig the series steal.

With your help, we still have the hopes to level the series!

 

[Woodster]

The ground is awash with puddles! That seems like it's it for today.

 

[Goughy]

Absolute farce if that's the case, seriously, how amateur

I cant be suprised by that. Amateurish defines South Africa, especially the public sector. Be thankful this particular incompetence was cricket related and noone died.

Sign at Jo'burg International should read "Welcome to South Africa: Please Lower Your Standards"

 

[four_or_six]

It really shouldn't be up to the broadcaster to organise the review system though, or pick up the associated costs. I heard Mark Nicholas talk very interestingly about this when the system first came in and he was talking about the problems with having a fair system and one that was consistent worldwide when this is the case.

 

[zaremba]

Smith chased a short, wide one off Sidebottom, there was a clear noise, though no obvious deflection off the bat. The umpire said not out, England straight away referred it as they were certain there was a nick. The replays shown on Sky had a very identifiable noise around the time the ball passed the bat, yet the third umpire was not privvy to the stump microphone's noise, supposedly due to an error from the host broadcaster, SABC.

Surely, if there has been an error from the SABC, at the very least England should have their lost referral reinstated?

Assuming of course that the match officials accept that the result would have been different had the SABC supplied the sound feed.

 

[GIMH]

Of course we should but it won't happen.

 

[zaremba]

It really shouldn't be up to the broadcaster to organise the review system though, or pick up the associated costs. I heard Mark Nicholas talk very interestingly about this when the system first came in and he was talking about the problems with having a fair system and one that was consistent worldwide when this is the case.

I'm less concerned than some people about the consistency of operation point. Games are umpired differently around the world. FC is happily played without any referrals, even for line decisions. We can make do with what we've got. Ideally we should have snicko and hotspot for this series. But I'm sure this won't be a problem that persists for very long.

However what we are entitled to expect, at the very least, is that those who operate and utilise the technology do so to a high standard of professionalism. Which may not be the case with regard to SABC in this instance (we can't be sure because we don't know the facts) and has on occasion not been the case with 3rd umpires (eg in the last Test when a similar "snick" was missed, and perhaps in the case of Harper today if in fact he did have a sound feed).

I firmly believe, though, that these things will steadily improve over time.

 

[four_or_six]

I'm less concerned than some people about the consistency of operation point. Games are umpired differently around the world. FC is happily played without any referrals, even for line decisions. We can make do with what we've got. Ideally we should have snicko and hotspot for this series. But I'm sure this won't be a problem that persists for very long.

However what we are entitled to expect, at the very least, is that those who operate and utilise the technology do so to a high standard of professionalism. Which may not be the case with regard to SABC in this instance (we can't be sure because we don't know the facts) and has on occasion not been the case with 3rd umpires (eg in the last Test when a similar "snick" was missed, and perhaps in the case of Harper today if in fact he did have a sound feed).

I firmly believe, though, that these things will steadily improve over time.

Yeah, I agree to some extent with the consistency thing. But why should it be up to SABC to have to administer the replays to a certain standard? They're not umpires, they're not match officials, they don't work for the ICC. Why should they be involved in umpiring the game?

 

[Goughy]

Yeah, I agree to some extent with the consistency thing. But why should it be up to SABC to have to administer the replays to a certain standard? They're not umpires, they're not match officials, they don't work for the ICC. Why should they be involved in umpiring the game?

because they provide the TV coverage and the third umpire is TV based. They dont get involved in the umpiring but given they are the TV people then they provide the TV replay to the umpire. It seems a pretty simple and easy solution.

Also by using broadcast signals the people at home can see exactly what the umpire is seeing. That means it is all done out in the open and no potential speculation about what the umpire saw.

 

[Neil Pickup]

According to Cricinfo: "David Gower has just informed us on commentary that an official SABC investigation into the Smith/snick/review controversy has revealed that the audio on Daryl Harper's replay TV was turned up to level 4/10, which should still be loud enough to hear an edge on replay. Which doesn't do much to clear the waters, really, although a statement is expected shortly."

 

[Furball]

Surely, if there has been an error from the SABC, at the very least England should have their lost referral reinstated?

Assuming of course that the match officials accept that the result would have been different had the SABC supplied the sound feed.

The third umpire should look at it again, and if he decides that he'd have overturned the decision, then England should get their lost referral back.

 

[zaremba]

because they provide the TV coverage and the third umpire is TV based. They dont get involved in the umpiring but given they are the TV people then they provide the TV replay to the umpire. It seems a pretty simple and easy solution.

Also by using broadcast signals the people at home can see exactly what the umpire is seeing. That means it is all done out in the open and no potential speculation about what the umpire saw.

Yep I've no objection to this either. And nor (despite the temptation) do I think for a second that this is deliberate by SABC. But it's an area which may give rise to some sticky situations, this being a case in point.

 

[four_or_six]

According to Cricinfo: "David Gower has just informed us on commentary that an official SABC investigation into the Smith/snick/review controversy has revealed that the audio on Daryl Harper's replay TV was turned up to level 4/10, which should still be loud enough to hear an edge on replay. Which doesn't do much to clear the waters, really, although a statement is expected shortly."

Maybe Harper is just deaf.

Can he not alter his own volume?

 

[popepouri]

I'll be so pissed off this ends in a draw.