KEY POINTS:
If it were up to me, lbw decisions would be left in the hands of the on-field umpires.
The dismissal of Daniel Flynn on day one of the first test against the West Indies was a landmark moment for my money - test cricket has been changed forever. And not for the better.
The concept of the benefit of the doubt falling in the batters' favour has been lost now that decisions can be referred to a third umpire armed with video evidence. If you believe the technology is fail safe, there is no doubt Flynn's dismissal was a good shout. However, it was a not out decision by the standards of what we know as test cricket.
But suddenly it's out, and just as suddenly the game is changed. Flynn can feel rightly put out that he was denied a certain, and well-deserved, maiden hundred.
Batters who have developed their techniques based on umpiring principles of the past must now think again. Unfortunately, and this was inevitable, I don't believe this is what that game's administrators were after.
Yes, lbw decisions over the years have been a touch subjective, with different umpires having different ways of interpreting the law. But vitally, batters got the rub of the green. Now, batting has got a whole lot harder.
Not only are we going to see more lbw decisions going against batsmen, but they will have to get bat on ball around the off stump and that is going to create a lot more opportunities for other types of dismissals.
In a decision such as Flynn's, I believe the ball needs to hit the pads in line with the inside half of the off stump to allow for the batter to get the benefit of the doubt - but that's not what happened to him. Flynn was struck on the outside half of the off stump - only just in line with the stumps by even the most precise measure.
Perhaps the answer may be to only use the referral system to determine if the ball has touched the bat, but leave any other part of lbw decisions to the men in the middle
It will be interesting to see how the ICC responds and whether they make any changes. The law has only been in force briefly and already has thrown up a scenario few anticipated.
As for the first test, with a day having been lost to rain there may not be time for a result. The Dunedin weather was one of the main reasons I predicted New Zealand would win the series 1-0.
The other three reasons are Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul who have yet to feature with the bat and will be looking forward to a hit on what looks a good batting deck.
From New Zealand's perspective, they will be disappointed not to have done better. On the evidence so far the West Indies attack is poor by test standards.
