Review stalemate....A solution perhaps?

I'm frustrated. Cricket is not progressing in an ideal fashion and that is tragic considering the exceptional entertainment we have seen of late. It is being impeded and I reckon I have a possible solution. Quite simply, the UDRS system is becoming a headache and is not working in its present state. Before you start sending heated tweets to @hazecricket .... let me explain further.

The UDRS or Umpire Decision Review System (hereafter referred to by the far more practical, less complicated and sensible name of The Review System), has one massive stumbling block, which is preventing its universal implementation and therefore cricket's progression.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (hereafter referred to as the BCCI) simply does not trust the system. They are the wealthiest and therefore by far the most influential body in cricket and they do not feel the technology is 100% accurate.

There it is in a nutshell and, like it or not, that is the deal, and they call the shots. They basically control cricket around the globe and feel the system is not good enough to rely on. The ICC can do or say whatever they like, but due to the influence of the BCCI, it will all fall on deaf ears unless some compromises are made.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that The Review System is improving the game. We 'willow heads' deserve the correct decisions wherever possible and the use of technology is often providing conclusive evidence within a replay or two.

Often all the 'bells and whistles' such as Hawk-Eye or HotSpot are not even required for the correct assessment. Do you remember when everyone rabbited on about the necessity for the implementation of technology to assist the umpires so that the howlers could be avoided?

That is now garbage. It has gone past that stage in a matter of months. As much as that was an agreeable early definition, it is now about all decisions, shockers or not. The use of technology for decision-making may never prove to be 100% precise, but it is light years ahead of just relying on umpires reacting to real-time action in the blink of an eye.

The lack of standardisation is particularly worrying. How is it that a high profile series such as The Ashes can benefit from technological use yet the shootout between #1 and #2 in the world can't? How fortunate we were during the SA v India series to have the benefit generally of exceptional umpiring. Just imagine the chaos that would have ensued had the umpiring been poor and the series marred by such.

So what is the solution? As much as you may not like this situation, the BCCI must be placated for the game to go forward with the use of technology. Their stance is loud and clear. It just isn't going to happen as it stands at the moment and nothing suggests that their stance will change in the foreseeable future.

The ICC recently heralded the fact that they, along with the BCCI, were going to travel to Australia during The Ashes series to scrutinise technology further and hopefully convince the BCCI that they needed a mindset change. Guess what? That didn't happen. The BCCI turned the invitation down.

Let's look at this from another angle. Do you not perhaps think that one of the contributing factors for BCCI reticence is their initial experience of review use? During a damaging series in 2008 against Sri Lanka, India were outwitted by Sri Lanka on this issue as they reviewed successfully on eleven occasions and, in complete contrast, India just once. Could this not be the root of the problem and therefore the catalyst for non-discussion?

Is it not time to address that specific aspect for the betterment of the game?

Technology being used in all cricket, both tests and one-dayers, will improve the spectacle and make the game fairer. Forget about all that baloney regarding human error being part of the game. Too much is at stake these days.

Would the BCCI be more amenable to taking the decision-making process out of the players' hands, since it was that particular aspect that was such a disaster for them during the first ever series in which it was used, in Sri Lanka in 2008?

Should we not be looking to revert to the situation that I have been banging on about for two years now: that the players concentrate on playing the game and the umpires umpire?

To simplify that idea, think of the TV umpire as a tennis umpire who can overrule a linesman if required. Additionally, if the standing umpire is in doubt he can ask the TV umpire to review the footage, with visual aid, prior to making a call. Oh yeah, and while considering this, bin the idea of only three unsuccessful challenges per innings. If the umpires control the game this irrational idea now becomes obsolete.

I feel strongly that the players have no business meddling in the outcome of decisions.

That to me is the only way to go and I just wonder if this suggestion is presented correctly to the BCCI it might get them thinking more positively regarding technological implementation and importantly the process.

Right now the stalemate is unacceptable and compromises must be made.