Does Everyone Deserve a Second Chance?

Sports fans the world over have mixed views on the video referee/umpire systems employed. Clearly some work better than others, but regrettably few have achieved what they were originally intended to do. Which was to simply make sure that the glaring errors were eliminated and the right decisions made.

The reason that this is the case is that often by the time these errors by the on-field officials occur, the teams have lost their entitlement to refer to the video official. Sadly in some sports they have complicated the issue further by having the video officials analyse the minutae of the game in search of infringements. This is definitely not what the fans want, especially when play has moved on with little or no complaints.

The Ashes Cricket series is about to commence today in England and once again we will see the referral system implemented. No doubt there will be some decisions that it corrects, but there will be some that will not result in the correct decision being made because the team wishing to query the decision has lost the option to refer.

Anyone who has played cricket will have witnessed at some time or another a top order batsman, playing for themselves. The player who puts their personal success above that of the team’s. The player who takes so long to accumulate runs that the lower and middle order batsmen, or women are forced to throw caution to the wind, in order to score quick runs so that they achieve a competitive score by the end of their overs, or when a declaration is due.

The current referral system in Cricket appears to favour such players, as we witnessed in the recent Cricket World Cup. Top order batsmen used up the referral in the vain hope that they may get lucky and extend their stay at the crease. They lost the team referral, and then when a lower batsman was given out in error there was no chance to refer the decision. They had no choice but to walk disconsolately back to the pavilion.

So here is a radical idea for the ICC and those governing the game across the world.

Why not give every batsman one referral per innings? They refer correctly, and the decision goes in their favour, then they get to keep it. This way those batting down the order would not be victims of the ridiculous, and at times selfish decision by those batting above them to refer out of hope rather than certainty. Surely this system would make sure that a batsman was not given out when they shouldn’t have been.

As the game is one between bat and ball, the same should apply to each bowler. Each individual bowler should have the chance to refer a decision when they believe the on-field umpires have made an error; if it goes their way they get to keep that referral, if the video umpire rules in the batsman’s favour then they lose it.

There is no reason why such a system could not work. It could however be open to abuse with players simply using their referral to break up play. If that were to happen the player in question should face a sanction for acting outside the spirit of the game.

The one area where it would not work would be when it came to a run out. In this instant the Captain has the opportunity to use his referral. This would only be necessary on the rare occasion that it was a tight call. What would help in these situations would be if the on-field umpire had to make a call, rather than avoiding a decision and asking for help from the Video Umpire first.

Surely this seems fair? Would it not also ensure that the video referral system gave cricket fans what it was always intended to do, the right decision?