Why umpires’ ‘soft signal’ needs to go

THERE were personal rewards for me at Edgbaston but I felt that I bowled really well at Lord’s too without any luck.

In fact, it summed cricket up when I got Devon Conway caught at deep square leg with the worst ball of my spell at Edgbaston. It was a reminder that even when wickets aren’t coming, it is my job to dovetail with the other bowlers, go at two-and-a-half runs an over and create pressure.

Nevertheless, I feel that a big haul is coming my way and if that is at Trent Bridge against India in August, that will be a dream come true.

Everything feels in place. My speed has been up above 85 miles per hour more often than in previous years and that’s testament to the work I have done.

I have charted in these pages previously how work on my running technique has helped to maintain power throughout the day, and that has played a part, but another crucial element for me is that I am still loving playing. I am enjoying running in and firing away.

I should have had Conway at a much cheaper cost too but for the ‘soft signal’ the on-field umpires are instructed to make.

It was quite a big moment in the game when, on 22, he edged low to Zak Crawley in the slips.

Asking the umpires to give an opinion on something they can’t really see is tough. You only had to look at the way James Bracey and Joe Root reacted — both could see from only a yard or so away — to know that the ball had carried and was caught cleanly.

The umpires only ‘go upstairs’ because they are not sure — they might have had an obscured view — yet their hunch is absolutely crucial to the process.

Without the soft signal, Conway was out.

Without the technology, Conway was out. The system needs changing because it let the umpires down and the England cricket team down on this occasion.

I don’t know any player that thinks the system is a good one and we are the ones who are closest to the game. It’s adding unnecessary pressure to what is already a tough job for the on-field officials.

I hope the ICC listen and the World Test Championship is the last time the soft signal is used in international cricket. Use the technology that is there — we don’t need the opinion of an umpire, based on a guess.