The Int'l Cricket Council confirmed that Real-Time Snickometer will be part of the Decision Review System in the upcoming Ashes series, which begins in Brisbane on Thursday. The decision-making technology that will be used as part of the Nine Network's coverage of the Ashes includes Virtual Eye, Hot Spot and RTS. Both Virtual Eye and Hot Spot are on the list of approved DRS technologies and can be used by TV umpires in any series in which they are available (ICC). In Sydney, Chris Barrett reported after a series in England in which the third-umpiring technology and the standard of officiating left players frustrated, the ICC "has moved to restore confidence by adding a device it believes, in conjunction with others, will provide more certainty in determining whether batsmen are out." But there "have been questions raised about the wisdom of trialling the new DRS tool in such a huge series." The umpires involved in the series -- the third official at the Gabba is South Africa's Marais Erasmus -- "were training on how to make decisions with the real-time Snicko at the ground on Tuesday" (THE AGE, 11/20). The AP reported Snickometer was "previously used on TV broadcasts but not available to umpire reviews of disputed calls during tests." The report quoted Channel Nine Exec Producer of Cricket Brad McNamara as saying that the cricket boards of England and Australia "agreed to use Snicko," which graphically represents ball touching bat, and the ICC "would use the broadened DRS system for the Ashes series as a trial" (AP, 11/19).
