The controversy-filled review that Marnus Labuschagne survived on day one of the third Test match between Australia and South Africa at the SCG ended up being the game’s high point. Following the Labuschagne incident, Cricket Australia is considering altering the procedure for sending broadcast imagery to third umpires. At 70, the Australian hitter appeared to have finished his innings when it appeared that Simon Harmer had taken a low catch in the slips to end it.
While largely focusing on the side-on replays, the third umpire overturned the verdict despite the fact that the soft signal had also been given in South Africa’s favor. Richard Kettleborough, who had earlier claimed that the ball had previously bounced, had his decision called into doubt by Seven Network, who shot the scene from a front-on perspective.
It should be noted that the third umpire currently has access to the feed provided by Fox Sports, the host broadcaster. Kettleborough was unable to consider it from a different angle as a result when making his choice. In a similar vein, CA CEO Nick Hockley has defended the match officials and said that they’ll try to improve their strategy for doing such assessments in the future.
“The broadcasting of cricket is probably the most complicated of any of the major sports. We have a huge number of cameras. Yesterday was really, really fine margins. The match referees and umpires are making the best calls they can with the information they have available,” Hockley told SEN. “It’s something we will think about and have a look at and review. We’ll have a look at it after the end of the Test match.”
The first game of the day at the SCG was negatively impacted by the poor lighting and unfavorable weather, and Hockley stated that the combination of light and rain was quite unpleasant. He nevertheless maintained his optimism that soon-coming lighting improvements will allay this worry. “It was extremely frustrating, particularly the combination of light and rain,” Hockley added.
