Australian captain Tim Paine calls for a DRS review. Photo / Getty Images
Australian captain Tim Paine calls for a DRS review. Photo / Getty Images
The Kiwi who pioneered cricket's decision review system has offered on open invitation to Tim Paine to go and learn how the technology works after the Australian captain blasted the process during the Boxing Day test.
Ian Taylor's company, Animation Research Ltd, operates Virtual Eye which is one of just two companies accredited to operate international cricket's ball-tracking system, along with Hawk Eye. Virtual Eye is being used at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the Boxing Day test between Australia and New Zealand, and has come in the firing line of the Australian captain.
Paine was irate at two decisions made using the technology on the second day of the test against the Black Caps, and at stumps on Friday said he felt the system was "a bit off."
"I won't go into it too far because I'll get in trouble but I'm just seeing time and time again, what I see to the naked eye, or watching it on television in real time, and then what it comes up as, is sometimes a little bit off the mark," he told ABC Grandstand.
There were two LBW decisions Paine was upset about – one which saw him dismissed after initially being ruled not out, and the other seeing Black Caps batsman Ross Taylor retain his wicket after being given out by the on field umpire.
Ian Taylor, who was in Melbourne for the first two days of the test, told the Herald there was "no question" that either decision was correct. He said his company had invested in making the technology as accurate as possible and Paine was more than welcome to go and have a look at how they reached the decisions.
Ian Taylor. Photo / Warren Buckland.
"After he leaves he might still think he got a raw deal and that's helpful to us too because we get his input as well, but refusing or not bothering to come and have a look at how the decision was made that's what's really frustrating," Taylor said.
"We've got to respect that these guys are really skilful out there and have been playing for ages, so he obviously believes he could see where it was going and this is a really good opportunity – this is what he saw, this is what we captured for real; does he see any discrepancies there now? Does he still think we got it wrong? He may, but what's really frustrating is he doesn't have any idea how much tech is behind the decision we made and how much care is taken to make sure it's right. This isn't instinct."
Virtual Eye pioneered the DRS in a test in Sri Lanka in 2008, and it was officially launched by the International Cricket Council in a test match between New Zealand and Pakistan 2009. It has been used in one day internationals since 2011, and all ICC World Twenty20 tournaments since 2017.
Taylor was vocal in his concerns that the technology wasn't where it needed to be when the ICC first adopted it, but his company has invested in the product since and has got it to a point where he can track a delivery millimetre by millimetre using four high-speed cameras which capture 200 images each of every delivery. In 2016, the ICC commissioned an independent study on the accuracy of the technology, which was tested by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Black Caps await the decision of a DRS referral during the Boxing Day Test. Photo / Getty Images
There are rare occasions where the technology does not capture sufficient data for the team to make a call, and in those situations that is made clear and the final call is referred back to the umpire.
In the Boxing Day test, the company launched a new speed tracker that is driven entirely by millimetre tracking of a ball travelling at over a 140kph that shows how much speed a ball loses before reaching the batsman, which wouldn't have been possible without their recent $1m tech upgrade.
"When it was first introduced we argued the technology had to be a lot better than it was if you were actually going to be changing players' careers by decisions you make, and umpires' careers too. We've invested heavily, and last year we spent another $1m of our own money on the technology to take it to another level.
"All people see when it gets on air is the red line with the blue prediction, but what goes in behind it is really quite remarkable … It sees way more than the human eye can possibly see; especially a wicketkeeper who is standing behind the batsman."
The team running the DRS tries to be as open as possible about how their technology works and Taylor said they have extended invites to plenty of players and umpires to visit their cabin to look at the track of a decision they reached, but very few have taken up the offer.
"We did offer to Tim Paine when he last complained but he didn't come, so we're offering the chance again."
