Re: Ashes : Tue Aug 06, 2013 3:51 pm
John_D wrote:
Where the ball pitched and where it struck the pad is not open to any question - it's a matter of historical fact which hawkeye shows you. But after striking the pad, it's a best guess only. There's a margin of error which has to be accounted for. It strikes me that the margin is far too large at present - half the ball hitting any part of the stump or any of the ball hitting at least half a stump would probably do - but that's why it's there.
It's still guess work though if the on field umpire gives it out or not out - he has no way of categorically knowing if the ball is going to hit or not - it's just his opinion. And in my opinion, if the technology shows that the ball is just clipping or knocking off stump out the ground, that has to be more accurate than the on field umpire who gets a split second to see it and decide, so therefore should be used.