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No-ball system must become norm: Copeland

3 minute read

The International Cricket Council has announced third umpires will be responsible for calling all front-foot no-balls during the women's Twenty20 World Cup.

ADAM VOGES at WACA in Perth, Australia.
ADAM VOGES at WACA in Perth, Australia. Picture: Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images

Trent Copeland is thrilled the International Cricket Council has embraced the campaign for common sense on no-balls, declaring Tuesday's change should become the norm in every series.

The ICC has confirmed the women's Twenty20 World Cup, starting next week in Australia, will be the first tournament to feature front-foot technology.

The third umpire will monitor bowlers' landing foot after each ball and communicate to their on-field counterparts whether it was a legal delivery.

On-field umpires have been instructed by the ICC, which is satisfied with the standard of technology after recent trials in India and the West Indies, not to call any front-foot no-balls unless advised.

Calls for the change gathered momentum after Seven pundit Copeland exposed how 21 no-balls were missed in two sessions during this summer's first Test.

"It's a glaringly obvious thing that had to change and it's great the ICC has taken action," former Test paceman Copeland told AAP.

"I remember talking to umpire Richard Kettleborough the day after (the no-ball segment), just making sure he knew we weren't targeting the umpires.

"That it was more about the process. How things evolve, how rules are written and that modernising those things can only help.

"His response was 'mate, we want the correct decision to happen all the time, so any technology that can assist is certainly a good thing'."

The no-ball technology was recently trialled during 12 games, with all 4717 deliveries judged accurately.

Copeland declared it was a "non-negotiable" for the new no-ball method to be used in all international cricket.

"I know there's financial hurdles," Copeland said.

"But my question is always is this important or not? Is it important the ICC has games that function well, correct decisions?

"If the answer is yet, and I think they'd be hard-pressed to say no, then it's something we have to find money for."

There have been several cases of miffed bowlers being denied a wicket because a replay revealed they overstepped, only to find on-field umpires missed a stack of preceding no-balls.

The other extreme came during Adam Voges' match-winning knock of 239 for Australia in a 2016 trans-Tasman Test.

Doug Bracewell was incorrectly no-balled while dismissing Voges for seven.

ICC general manager of cricket Geoff Allardice noted the technology had improved significantly in recent years and could now be introduced "cost-effectively and with minimum impact on the flow of the game".

"No-balls are difficult for umpires to call accurately ... I'm confident that this technology will reduce the small number of front-foot no-ball errors," Allardice said.

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