Ben Horne, in Daily Telegraph, 22 December 2019
Meet Dr DRS, the man Australia have turned to in a bid to crack cricket’s most convoluted code. When 22 botched referrals from 24 attempts leaves you in a critical condition, you need the doc with the PhD in lbw.
Item in The Australian, 27 February 2017, where the title is “Border-Gavaskar series: India’s DRS ‘shocker’
India’s new-found resolve to use the Decision Review System backfired spectacularly in Pune. There were a range of different factors that led to Australia recording their first Test win in India since 2004. The tourists were much better in the field, while they outperformed the top-ranked Test side with bat and ball. One of the most stark differences between the two teams was their use of DRS.
ONE: News Item in Daily News, 7 November 2016,entitled “Undefeated De Silva puts Sri Lanka in charge”
HARARE, Sunday – An unbeaten century from Dhananjaya de Silva put Sri Lanka in control of the second and final Test against Zimbabwe after a fluctuating first day at Harare Sports Club on Sunday. De Silva came to the wicket with Sri Lanka struggling on 112 for four after they had lost the toss and been asked to bat, but showed greater application than Sri Lanka’s top order as he hit his second Test century in just his fifth match.
The right-hander added a crucial 143 for the fifth wicket with Upul Tharanga before finishing unbeaten on 100, as the tourists closed the day on 290 for five.“I knew I needed to bat through the innings,” De Silva said afterwards. “Playing under pressure is my role, so it made me comfortable.
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Dhananjaya de Silva– Pic by Getty
Though Stuart Clark and some Australian commentators implied that Smith was hard done by, Robert Craddock, Ian Chappel and Wayne Smith were among those who upheld Aleem Dar’s decision and reprimanded Steve Smith for the character of his remonstrance. Also note Sangakakra’s decisive opinion on the issue of the Umpire’s cCall for lbw decision and DRS. Michael Roberts
ONE: Robert Craddock, in The Courier Mail, 6 November 2016. where the title is “Steve Smith walking a perilous tight rope as he struggles to find his identity as a captain”
STEVE Smith is a captain is like a young Steve Waugh, a man searching to find himself but not there yet. It’s no crime for a young captain to have a formulative period where he works out who he is and what he stands for. Some leaders like Mark Taylor knew from the moment he was appointed who he was and what he wanted to do (it helps if you have Warne and McGrath). Taylor barely changed in the five years he had the job. Most leaders take more time. Steve Waugh struggled for a while, trying to be all things to all people before deciding “stuff this … I am just going to back my gut feeling and cop the consequences.’’
It is difficult for Smith to take this stance and be the person he wants to be because there are so many conflicting and confusing forces around him. He is walking on a perilous tight rope which has trouble either side of it. On one hand he senses his side is a quiet one and needs to find his voice and aggression. He wants Australia to get its marauding mojo back. On the other hand he is aware that in the fallout of the Phil Hughes death, sledging is suddenly a dirty word. So he and his team need to be confident but not arrogant, aggressive but not offensive, loud but not obnoxious. Continue reading
Kumar Sangakkara on Twitter as quoted recently by Wayne Smith in The Weekend Australian, 5/6th November 2016
“High time the ICC got rid of this umpire’s call. If the ball is hitting the stumsp, it should be out regardless of the umpire’s decision”
Note that Kumar was a law student at the University of Colombo before he discarded that career path for cricket’s roadways. .. and in Brian Scovell’s (of Surrrey) appraisal his Cowdrey Lecture was thee best Scovell has heard ever since it was initiated (recent emial note to Roberts).
George Dobell, in ESPNcricinfo, 20 October 2016, where the title is “Moeen Ali survives five lbw reviews in extraordinary day”
Kumar 
Frane Selak
Michael Roberts
Cricket umpiring is a difficult task and subject to human error. The cluster of technological systems and directives that make up the DRS today overcame the deep conservatism of the cricketing administrators (Indian obduracy and idiocy excepted) so as to improve the system and reduce errors. That objective has been secured; while the presence of the system has improved the capacity of umpires because they study its workings and can, now, make better judgements.
Nathan Lyon of Australia swings at the ball on another occasion–Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images –just as he did at Adelaide where two sixes came off his bat
Chloe Saltau, in the Sydney Morning Herald, 13 December 2014, where the title is “Absence of review allows umpiring shockers in first Test” … http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/absence-of-review-allows-umpiring-shockers-in-first-test-20141213-126j1s.html
Spinner Nathan Lyon produced a man-of-the-match performance in Australia’s first Test win at Adelaide Oval. India’s refusal to accept the decision review system in its current form meant four umpiring howlers of the kind the system was designed to eliminate went unchallenged on the tense final day of the Adelaide Test.
But the absence of the contentious DRS from this series cut both ways. Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was given out, caught behind, off his shoulder. And Nathan Lyon was denied the wicket of Dhawan’s opening partner Murali Vijay, despite the Eagle Eye ball-tracker showing the ball crashing into his stumps. Continue reading
Pic by Ian Kington for AFP
Rex Clementine in the Island, 18 June 2014
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews praised his tail-enders for the remarkable guts and fight showcased in the dying moments of the Lord’s Test to save the game. With new ball in hand, James Anderson and Stuart Broad were creating havoc and amidst all the drama, last man Nuwan Pradeep saw off the final five deliveries to help his side earn a hard fought draw.
In the first innings, Pradeep had been intimidated by some well-directed short pitched deliveries and he was out hit wicket after being struck on the shoulder by a vicious Chris Jordan bouncer. So when he walked in to face the music with still five deliveries left in the game, many wondered how he would fare. “When Herath was out, all Pradeep said to me was, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to hold on. If they bowl short at me I’m just going to leave it.’ That was very encouraging from the tail-ender. I actually thought he did that exact thing,” Mathews said after Sri Lanka’s great escape. Continue reading
Aussie Cricketing Pundits Err in their Verdicts on Mitch Marsh LBW
Daniel Brettig, in ESPNcricinfo, 8 November 2016, “Marsh LBW correctly tracked”
PERTH, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 07: Mitch Marsh of Australia looks dejected after being dismissed by Kagiso Rabada of South Africa after a DRS referal during day five of the First Test match between Australia and South Africa at WACA on November 7, 2016 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse – CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)
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