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I don’t understand the argument that technology should be 100% accurate before it is used. Surely as long as its more accurate than umpires then it should be good enough. We have the ridiculous situation where umpires are judged by match refrees after a game using technology that they claim is not accurate. Hello! (and other hackneyed phrases) Get it together guys.
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Proposal for electronic chips in cricket balls
By Will 4 years ago, at the end of February Leave a comment on this post
I heard today that the FA are trialling an Adidas ball with an embedded microchip inside. When the ball crosses the goal line, it immediately alerts the referee - so it got me thinking: why can’t we use this in cricket? Obviously, the technology of creating a cricket ball versus a football is vastly different - but surely the effort would be worthwhile in the end.
This would give umpires one less thing to worry about. These days, the pressure on them is astronomical - any questionable decision (and there appear to be dozens per game nowadays) is shown on The Big Screen, and x thousands cricket fans display their vocal opinion (of the umpire: not necessarily the decision…).
This technology, to the armchair pundit like me, sounds perfectly doable. And it could even be expanded upon. A microchip with collision-detection: this could do away with video evidence (or rather, the sole use of video evidence) for questionable catches, the chip emitting a signal to the 3rd umpire. So they could better decide whether a ball had carried or not.
We can’t escape the use of technology in Cricket. All the new “advances” - hawkeye, the red-line for LB’s, super-double-special-wicked-slowmo and so on. Let’s help the umpires instead of undermining the decisions they make. Perhaps I’ll ask Daryl Harper to comment…
Tags: football, microchip, technology |
12 Responses to “Proposal for electronic chips in cricket balls”
February 26th, 2005 at 4.21 pm
February 26th, 2005 at 4.41 pm
Well - I’m not in favour of technology replacing umpires, I just want it used to help them. Hawkeye, for example, is great for us armchair pundits, but it’s a nightmare for the umpires. Incidentally, I din’t make it very clear in my post: I’d use this technology to help umpires detect no-balls, so they can concentrate on the business end
February 26th, 2005 at 8.28 pm
Why can’t technology replace umps. I know this sounds radical and i recognise the part they have played. But with all the controversy over Australians subtly influencing Bowden (which I think is total rubbish, the cricket world seems to hate any umps with a bit of backbone i.e. defending himself) the one thing that technology is, is that it’s unbiased. I am just being contrary, I too would be sad to see umps die out but progress always goes on irrespective of the casulties.
February 26th, 2005 at 9.06 pm
I don’t deny we’re reaching a stage where Umpires’ futures are changing, dramatically - but to replace them completely? What would you do (how could technology) calm down on-field situations? How would batsmen get their guard? How would the players be told if a player is given out? Apart from it being just completely wrong, there are logistical problems with ridding the game of Umpires.
You’d need to have technology to:
1) Adjudge LBW
2) Adjudge catches
3) Monitor no-balls
4) Monitor no-balls for illegal field-placings (x fielders in front of the batsman)
It’s impossible, Ram, isn’t it?
February 26th, 2005 at 10.26 pm
I bow to your more indepth analysis. My comment wasn’t thought through completely I realise. But do we really want umpires who are there for nothing more than a logistical convienience. Will the respect still be there for this position or will he (how come its always a he, can’t we have female umps - or am just a crazy dreamer) become no more important than a groundcoverer (i don’t mean groundsman because he is perhaps a 20%-25% deciding factor in a match - really important.
February 26th, 2005 at 11.19 pm
Well I suppose girls just aren’t interested (yet) in becoming umpires. But this will no doubt change - women’s cricket is on the up, so that ought to redress the balance (if they want!)
I don’t know what to say Ram really. I can’t see a day where Umpires are dispensable - and I don’t think I’m saying that out of…erm, tradition, or lack of desire for change etc. It won’t happen.
March 1st, 2005 at 3.37 pm
The technology is already pretty much there. I just bought a cricket ball with an inbedded motion/impact sensor that tells you your bowling speed. I don’t feel that “live” umpires should ever be removed (the subjective and variable nature of LBW alone is enough for that to be impossible) but with increasing technology available it seems silly not to use it. For instance I’ve always wondered if some variant of the laser system used in tennis couldn’t be employed for those dodgy no-balls.
March 1st, 2005 at 3.50 pm
Chef - where’d you get this ball? Who makes it?
March 2nd, 2005 at 9.57 am
It’s called the”Speed Sensor” and it’s made by an Australian company called Platypus. It’s made of bright orange plastic at the same weight/size as a proper ball with a stiched seam and a recesed didgital screen and a small recesed push button(as on a didgital watch). You set the estimated distance you will be pitching the ball and as you release it a kinetic sensor activates,mesures the distance and swithces off when the ball hits the deck.A readout then apears on the screen.I picked it up from the Kent C.C. online shop at Kentcountycricket.co.uk
March 3rd, 2005 at 9.43 pm
That sounds brilliant, thanks Chef…will have to investigate further. Baffles the mind 
October 14th, 2005 at 1.44 pm
hi will
this a great idea.you can even extend it so as to tackle out even the toughest decisions the third umpire has to make.Have you made a working model of it.this can also be extended in giving complicated six and fours decison to be made.
Vyas.
December 19th, 2006 at 7.05 am
duuuuuumb!!!1
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