Berry wants the DRS to be removed immediately
South Australia coach Darren Berry has announced that the Decision Review System (DRS) should be banned since it is an absolute nightmare and ends up making the situation even more confusing for both teams.
Cricket Australia are currently testing out the technology in the Ryobi Cup, which South Australia are a part of, but Berry hopes that his concerns will be taken into account.
“The DRS system on trial (in Ryobi Cup competition) is a mess and causing players, coaches and umpires unnecessary headaches,” Berry wrote in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Berry has already made a plea to Cricket Australia to remove the technology immediately.
“Cricket Australia must intervene and make the change and abolish this system immediately,” Berry said. “Don’t wait until the end of the summer and then have endless meetings on the matter. Make the call now and put it in the bin.
“The domestic DRS was designed originally to eliminate the absolute howler of a decision made by umpires, which we all agreed would be good practice. The system has now escalated in use and, to be frank, is out of control, the third umpire is not supposed to review all appeals, but has the right to review any decision he deems worthy of such action, based on the first replay he receives from the broadcast. He is supposed to only overturn the decision if he deems a genuine standout mistake has been made.”
Berry wants to see all decisions being made by the on-field umpires and stated that all players and coaches should respect their calls.
“I am old fashioned in my beliefs at times but I believe part of the beauty of our great game and its unique nature is the decision-making of the officiating umpire in the game,” Berry added. “This new system is not developing the umpire’s confidence under pressure. It can’t be good to have a decision you make overturned on international television. I’m not sure it’s promoting the come-join-the-umpiring-fraternity line.”