England and Australia "may yet be given permission to trial new technology in the return Ashes series in an effort to reduce the number of controversies surrounding the Decision Review System," according to Andy Wilson of the London GUARDIAN. Both countries are "keen to introduce the Snickometer as a more reliable measure of thin edges than the Hot Spot technology which was found wanting on several occasions in England this summer." After the countries' last meeting in Dubai, world cricket execs have "referred the so-called 'Real Time Snicko' for independent assessment." A final decision is "likely to be made next month" by the Int'l Cricket Council (GUARDIAN, 9/18). The IANS reported the ICC on Wednesday decided to "allow two extra reviews per innings in Test matches as part of a trial starting next month." During its CEOs' Committee meeting, the ICC decided that a "team's referral count will be topped up to two reviews after 80 overs of an inning in matches where DRS is used." The trial starts Oct. 1, meaning it would "be in operation for the Ashes series in Australia starting in November" (IANS, 9/18). The BBC reported its cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew tweeted that the change was "bonkers." Agnew tweeted, "Reviews need reducing not increasing! Paves the way for more speculative time-wasting LBW reviews" (BBC, 9/18).
