BP Daily Podcast

More cricket on Effectively Wild? Superb.

On a slightly-related note, I've noticed an increasing use of the term "change-up", mainly in limited-overs cricket, where "slower ball" would previously have been used. Goodness only knows what the traditionalists will make of this once they pick up on it en masse.

These first two comments confirm my belief that this podcast should be exclusively about cricket.

As I said above, I always enjoy it when cricket is brought up in these podcasts. A few points relating to what was said in this episode:

1. HotSpot has been the main problem in the current England v Australia series. (By the way, each Test series between these two teams is known as The Ashes - http://goo.gl/Rp84ka - Wikipedia). There have been instances where it seems pretty clear that the ball has hit the bat but nothing has shown up on the HotSpot replay. Various theories have arisen - hot weather might cause the technology to not work as well, for instance - but it's not been a good summer for HotSpot.

2. The snickometer has been a staple of TV coverage, in the UK at least, for about 13 years now. The reason why it hasn't been part of the official review system is that it takes too long to produce. Apparently they've managed to sort this out though - or they're close to doing so - and this is likely to be part of the review system soon.

3. The third umpire, whose job it is to adjudicate in these situations, is someone who will be an on-field umpire most of the time.

4. Both sides competing in a series have to agree to video review for it to be used. India refuse to use it, citing concerns with its accuracy, so series involving them rely simply on the decisions of the on-field umpires.

5. Two main effects of the DRS stand out for me. Firstly, and without going into too much detail, there are certain ways a batsman will be given out now that would never have happened in the past. Secondly, it removes a bit of drama each time a batsman is out. An example: England won a really dramatic first game against the Aussies a few weeks ago. The final out came courtesy of a video review by England after the on-field umpire had said "not out". It no longer feels *quite* the same when the umpire gives someone out, because everyone immediately looks to see whether the batsman will review the decision (unless, of course, his side have run out of reviews).