The International Cricket Council's (ICC) first use of the a
new umpiring decision review system worked in New Zealand's
favour today as Brendon McCullum had his dismissal reversed
two balls before stumps here at University Oval.
McCullum was initially given out leg before wicket to
Mohammad Asif by Australian umpire Simon Taufel for 25 - a
breakthrough that would have seen New Zealand end the opening
day of the first test at a precarious 276 for seven.
However, McCullum immediately sought a review and when third
umpire Rudi Koertzen studied new ball-tracking technology he
was given the benefit of the doubt and reinstated.
It was the second time the Pakistanis were stymied by
technology designed to eradicate errors.
When Ross Taylor was on 54 he survived an lbw appeal, again
by Asif, and Pakistan unsuccessfully sought to overturn Billy
Doctrove's call.
ICC umpires manager Doug Cowie explained the rationale behind
the two decisions at the close of play.
While the delivery that struck Taylor pitched in line, the
computer animation revealed the centre of the ball had not
landed in the impact zone, prompting enough doubt as to
whether it would hit the stumps.
"There is a margin for error and that goes in favour of the
batsman. There was no clear evidence he should change his
decision," Cowie said.
In McCullum's case, the technology revealed the ball struck
outside the line of the wicket to wicket impact zone, meaning
the batsman was safe.
"It was exactly how the system was expected to work," Cowie
said.
"No umpire likes to make mistakes but I think umpires would
rather see their mistakes corrected before they go to bed."
Cowie said if the technology was available last season during
the ICC's trial of a review system, New Zealand's Daniel
Flynn may have made his maiden test century on University
Oval against the West Indies.
Flynn was given out lbw after originally surviving the
appeal. The bowler and West Indies captain Chris Gayle
successfully referred the decision to the third umpire and
Flynn was dismissed for 95.
Last year the third umpire relied on a replay showing the
point of impact and not where the ball is likely to continue.
"A very small portion of the ball struck in line with wicket
to wicket," Cowie said of Flynn's demise.
"It was overturned on a small amount of evidence. This year
we insist there is more clear evidence shown to the third
umpire before the decision is changed."
Taylor, New Zealand's top scorer with 94, said he was always
confident he was not out.
"When I first got hit I thought it was quite high and maybe
outside the line. As it happened the umpire made the right
decision."
