England's victory in first Ashes Test brings DRS into the limelight again

Australian players appealing for the wicket of Stuart Broad

Australia had to walk off the field dejected after the much-debated Decision Review System (DRS) decided the outcome of the game on the final day of the 1st Ashes Test match, handing England a 14-run victory.

The much talked about DRS made its presence felt when ultimately it decided the conclusion of the match by over-ruling umpire Aleem Dar’s not-out decision in favour of Aussie cricketer Brad Haddin. Dar had failed to detect the thin outside edge which came off the batsman’s bat and landed right into English keeper Matt Prior’s gloves.

The DRS fairly delivered the much sought after victory to the well-deserving English side. But the manner in which it came left lovers of orthodox cricket disappointed.

“What a tragedy that this brilliant first Test ended with the umpire decision review system making the final decision”, wrote famed Australian cricket writer, Malcolm Conn, in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.

There was another incident during the gruelling five days when DRS was again brought into the limelight. Once again, Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar failed to notice a thick outside edge coming off England’s Stuart Broad. However, Australia wasn’t as fortunate as their opponents to make use of the DRS as they had used up their quota of 2 reviews. Hence, the decision stood and Stuart Broad was gifted another life.

Malcolm Conn further wrote, “This is wrong. The DRS was originally introduced to get rid of the howler but in this match all matter of margin calls were judged by technology while the howler stayed. Until cricket finds a way of using technology to get rid of the howler, then the game will continue to make a fool of itself.”

Source: Times of India