Top SA umpire feels pressure of review system
On-field mistakes understandable, but no room for errors on TV, says Erasmus
THE introduction of the decision review system (DRS) has had a positive effect on the game, says international Cricket Council (ICC) umpire of the year Marais Erasmus. The ICC introduced DRS in 2009, but the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was against it until the recent test series against England in November.
Erasmus‚ who got 90% of his decisions correct last season‚ told SuperSport on Tuesday: “I am one of the first guys to speak out about [DRS] and the positive effect it will have on the game.
“I think most international umpires feel the same way because it helps for different reasons, like fixing errors.
“It was something new that we had to deal with and we did not change our style as umpires too much in terms of things like body language and how we took decisions.
“You don’t start umpiring dif- ferently because there is DRS – we continue to try to get decisions right.
“You don’t want to give a not out decision because the fielding team has a review or something like that, but give a decision that is right in the moment‚” he said.
Cricket umpires are constantly under tremendous pressure and Erasmus admitted that there would always be human error despite working hard in preparations like video reviews to get decisions right.
Erasmus, 52, also admitted to feeling more pressure while working as a television review umpire than on the field because there was no room for error on referrals.
“I feel pressure when doing the television job because you are not supposed to make an error.
The veteran of 39 tests‚ 67 ODIs and 26 T20s said: “On-field mistakes are‚ to a certain extent‚ understandable, but you are not supposed to make a wrong decision while reviewing on television.”
As a player‚ Erasmus claimed 131 first class wickets in 53 matches before he moved to umpiring, which led to a test debut in the Chittagong match between Bangladesh and India six years ago.
He said there were teams that were difficult to work with, but pointed out Kane Williamson of New Zealand and India’s Virat Kohli as the two captains he enjoyed working with the most.
“Generally, I have a good relationship with all the teams.
“Williamson is a respectful guy and Kohli is passionate about the game.
“We always [have] challenging moments during matches. One day in India‚ Kohli came to me and said: ‘You have to give out because they have one review.’
“Moments later, Alastair Cook came to me and said the same thing.
“I was laughing to myself, saying that opposing captains agree on something.”