Front foot no-balls will be decided by the third umpires in the three-match T20I and ODI series between India and West Indies.
The ICC had announced in August 2019 that they were planning to test this system on a trial basis and if proved successful, the on-field umpires could be relieved of this duty in the future.
During the India-West indies series that begins on Friday, the on-field umpires will be responsible for all the other decisions in the game as usual.
“Throughout the trial, the Third Umpire will be responsible for monitoring every ball bowled and identifying whether there has been any front foot infringement,” the ICC said in a release on Thursday.
“If there has been an infringement on the front foot, the Third Umpire will communicate this to the On-Field Umpire who will subsequently call a no ball. As a result, the On-Field Umpire will not call a front foot no ball without the advice of the Third Umpire.”
In case of close calls, the benefit of the doubt will lie with the bowler and in case of a late no-ball call from the third umpire, the on-field umpires will then have to revoke a decision and call for a free-hit for the subsequent delivery.
The on-field calls for overstepping has come under scrutiny in the recent past. There were as many as 21 no-balls that weren’t called during a single session of a Test match during the recently concluded series between Australia and Pakistan.
In the first two sessions of Day 2, there were 21 (!!) no-balls not called.@copes9 | #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/if7jQ3U3Gu
— #7Cricket (@7Cricket) November 22, 2019
In the 2019 IPL, during a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, a no-ball wasn’t called when Lasith Malinga overstepped during the final delivery of the match, thereby changing the outcome of the game.
