Zings to light up England games
This month’s one-day internationals against Australia will see Zing bails used for the first time in an England home series — six years after initial talks with the manufacturers. Despite the flashy Zings being synonymous with white-ball cricket around the globe, the ECB have neglected to incorporate the iCC-approved technology into cricket under their own jurisdiction. however, Sportsmail understands an agreement has been struck for them to be introduced in the five-match ODi series against the Australians — starting at The Oval on June 13 — then deployed in the six limited-overs meetings with india. They are particularly popular with younger fans — the age bracket the ECB are so keen to engage with ahead of their new eight-team franchise competition in 2020. The ECB were the first international board approached about using the bails in 2012 but failure to complete negotiations saw Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash tournament steal a march. The ECB have since stated that the Zings were too expensive, but this deal will also include 10 televised Vitality Blast matches plus september’s Twenty20 finals day at Edgbaston. While it is sometimes hard for an umpire to judge exactly when a bail is completely dislodged when making line calls with the aid of replays, the Zings contain a microprocessor that sends a signal when both spigots have been separated from their grooves, leading to the illumination of both bails and stumps within a remarkable onethousandth of a second. The iCC adopted their use in international cricket after having their accuracy verified by the Massachusetts institute of Technology.