Mitchell Starc has had enough of the guessing game around the Decision Review System. After another messy few days in the Ashes, Australia’s left-armer wondered, bluntly, why the International Cricket Council does not pick up the bill – and why every series can’t run off the same kit.
Both camps have grumbled about Real Time Snicko (RTS) since the series began, but the noise peaked during the Adelaide Test. England had a review restored on the second morning when BBG Sports, the company operating Snicko, admitted an error had allowed Alex Carey to bat on during his hundred. A day later, stump-mics caught Starc muttering, “Snicko needs to be sacked.” The line travelled quickly.
With the ECB and Cricket Australia planning a joint approach to the ICC, funding – or the lack of it – sits at the heart of the latest row. Host broadcasters currently pay for the toys, meaning set-ups can vary from country to country. Starc would rather see the game’s governing body take ownership.
“I’m sure it’s frustrating for everyone, viewers, officials, broadcasters no doubt,” Starc said. “One thing I will say … I’m only going to speak for myself here, the officials use it, right? So why doesn’t the ICC pay for it? And why is it not just one [provider] across the board? Why don’t we use the same technology in all different series that’s going to perhaps create less confusion, less frustration? So that’s where I’ll leave that.”
At present the ICC accredits two “sound-based edge detection” systems: RTS in Australia, UltraEdge almost everywhere else. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, working on television during the third Test, pulled no punches, saying umpires “can’t trust” RTS and calling UltraEdge the better product.
Pat Cummins, normally careful not to stir the pot, still noticed a difference. “The one here seems a little bit different to sometimes what you get overseas,” Cummins said. “There’s always a few murmurs. You’re hoping that it matches up if you’re the bowling team. Sometimes you kind of just making sure that it’s all okay if you’re batting, even though you feel like you haven’t hit it. It sometimes doesn’t feel super consistent, but you just crack on whatever the umpire says.”
Consistency, then, is the word everyone keeps circling back to. Central funding would almost certainly lead to a single supplier, or at least a single standard, removing the temptation for home boards to shop around. Critics argue it would also spare umpires the awkward task of explaining why the trace looks different this week to last.
A quick fix is unlikely. Contracts are locked in for the rest of the Ashes, meaning RTS will remain in use for Melbourne and Sydney. UltraEdge, interestingly, already operates in the Big Bash League, but rules do not allow a mid-series swap.
So for now, players, fans and officials must live with the split system. Behind the scenes, though, expect firmer conversations – and perhaps a proper audit – before the next Test cycle begins. Starc, for one, will keep pushing. If the ICC wants the DRS respected, he argues, best to pay for it and make it uniform.
