Man behind cricket's DRS calls for complete overhaul

Australian skipper Steve Smith calls for a DRS review. Photo / Getty

Ian Taylor, the Kiwi behind cricket's Decision Review System, has called for a complete restructure of how the technology is used amid allegations that it is not accurate.

The story comes on the back of a DRS 'howler' which occurred between Australia and South Africa in an ODI match earlier this week.

South African star AB de Villiers was clean bowled by Josh Hazlewood, but the DRS technology surprisingly showed the ball missing the stumps.

Taylor, speaking to Tony Veitch on Newstalk ZB, said that the technology was initially designed for television only, and the ICC's decision to use it as a comprehensive decision system was both rushed and ill advised.

"I've always argued that the ICC rolled this out the wrong way," Taylor said.

"Out of the blue, someone decided that this technology that was being used for television was really cool and said 'why don't we use this for umpire decisions?'"

"I said no. If we're going to do that, then we need to revisit what we are doing, but we never have."

Taylor also stressed the dangers that come with relying too much on the DRS system for umpiring decision saying that while it can accurately show the pitch of the ball and the point of impact, it can only predict the balls path.

"There's no other sport where a decision is made on something predicting where the ball is going," Taylor said.

"It is only technology, and this whole idea that everybody expects this stuff to be 100 percent accurate, all of the time, is just wrong," Taylor said.

As a fix, Taylor wants to get rid of the prediction aspect of the DRS, and offer umpires a certain set of information that they are then forced to make a decision off.

They would be given a certain amount of time and would ultimately be the ones to decide the outcome of a decision.

Makers of the Hawk-Eye technology, competitors to Taylor's initial designs, believe there has only been eight incorrect decisions in recent years.