# Technology on the Field · Cricket Level 5: Upper-Intermediate

Cricket · Level 5: Upper-Intermediate · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/cricket/level-5/technology-on-the-field/)

Technology on the Field in Cricket (Level 5: Upper-Intermediate) on Insporta: 50 sourced facts behind 5 tests. Covers: the decision review system; and more.

This sub-level teaches the Decision Review System end to end, including how many reviews a side holds and what happens to an unsuccessful one; ball-tracking (Hawk-Eye) and why its projection carries a margin of error, most visible in the umpire's call zone; UltraEdge (Snickometer) and how it detects a bat's edge from sound; hot spot's thermal-imaging approach to the same question; the third and fourth umpire's roles; and how these tools changed, rather than replaced, the on-field umpire's job.

## Test 1: The Decision Review System

- DRS is a player review: a fielding captain or the batter being given out signals for a review to the on-field umpire within the allowed time, not something officials or broadcasters trigger themselves. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Each unsuccessful review counts against a side's limited allowance per innings, which is why sides are cautious about reviewing marginal decisions rather than certain howlers. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Two unsuccessful reviews per innings is the standard allowance in Tests and white-ball cricket, though the exact count has varied slightly across playing-condition revisions. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Umpire's call means the tracking sits within the technology's margin of error, so rather than trusting the projection completely, the system defers to whatever the human umpire originally decided. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Tools such as UltraEdge and hot spot exist precisely to catch an edge too faint or fast for the human ear or eye, feeding that evidence to the third umpire during a review. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Playing conditions specify which technology is available at a given venue, and a review still proceeds on whatever tools are actually fitted, rather than being cancelled outright. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- DRS was designed as a safety net for clear mistakes while preserving the on-field umpire's central role, rather than replacing umpires with a fully automated system. (Source: ICC)
- A clear spike coinciding with the ball passing the bat is treated as conclusive evidence of an edge, which is exactly the kind of clear error DRS exists to correct. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Only unsuccessful reviews are counted against a side's allowance, so a correct challenge costs nothing and can be used again later in the same innings. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- DRS applies across formats under playing conditions tailored to each, rather than being a Test-only tool or vanishing in the shortest format. (Source: ICC playing conditions)

## Test 2: Ball-tracking and its margin of error

- Hawk-Eye is the ball-tracking system that projects a delivery's likely path to the stumps, distinct from the edge-detection tools UltraEdge and hot spot. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Multiple cameras triangulate the ball's real, tracked path up to the point of impact, and only the remaining short distance to the stumps is a projection. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Any projection carries some uncertainty, so the system defines a tolerance band rather than claiming pinpoint accuracy for the unseen part of the ball's path. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- When the ball-tracking projection is too close to call outside its own margin of error, the system defers to the human umpire's original decision rather than overturning on an uncertain projection. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- A projection clearly outside the tolerance band is treated as conclusive, so a clear miss overturns an out decision rather than being left to umpire's call. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- The tracked flight is measured directly from multiple camera angles, while only the path after the ball is blocked by pad or bat has to be estimated, which is why the two portions carry different levels of certainty. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- "Clipping" describes a projection landing right at the edge of the stumps, which is exactly the kind of marginal case the umpire's call rule exists to handle. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Triangulating a three-dimensional flight path needs multiple synchronised camera angles; a single camera cannot reliably judge depth and speed together. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Leg-before turns on the ball's onward path to the stumps, which is exactly what ball-tracking is built to project, unlike an edge, which is a separate question for UltraEdge or hot spot. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Because part of its job is projecting what would have happened rather than recording what did, the system is built with an acknowledged margin of error rather than treated as infallible. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)

## Test 3: UltraEdge, Snickometer and detecting an edge

- A sensitive stump microphone picks up the sound of contact, which is then synced to high-speed video of the ball passing the bat to check whether a spike lines up with the exact moment of passing. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Different contacts, bat, pad, ground, produce spikes of different size and shape on the trace, so analysts read the spike's size and timing together rather than treating any spike as an automatic edge. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Hot spot relies on infrared imaging to pick up a small heat signature left by the friction of contact, a different physical principle from UltraEdge's sound-based approach. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Sound and heat are two different physical signatures of the same contact, so combining them narrows the chance that a genuine edge goes undetected by both. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- A spike must line up with the moment the ball passes the bat to count as an edge; a mistimed spike points to another source of sound, such as the ball hitting the pad or the ground. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Whether the bat made contact is exactly the question a caught-behind or bat-pad appeal turns on, which is why edge-detection tools are built around exactly that question. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- A third umpire reviews all the available evidence together, bat deviation, replay angle and sound, rather than relying on a single trace in isolation, so a faint or missed spike does not automatically mean not out. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Detecting an edge is a question about a past event, contact or no contact, unlike ball-tracking's job of projecting an unseen future path, which is why the two technology types carry different kinds of uncertainty. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- A microphone close to the point of contact is needed to pick up the faint sound of an edge clearly enough to be useful on the trace. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Both technologies were developed specifically to catch contacts too subtle for a human umpire to reliably hear or see in real time, which is the core reason edge-detection tools exist at all. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)

## Test 4: The third and fourth umpire

- The third umpire sits off the field with access to replays and technology, reviewing evidence and relaying the outcome to the on-field umpires. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- The fourth umpire supports the match off the field, handling practical duties and standing ready to replace an on-field umpire if needed, rather than making decisions during play. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Tight run-out and stumping calls are routinely sent upstairs to the third umpire, who can view slow-motion replays the on-field umpire cannot see live. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Because a fielder's exact foot position at the rope is hard to judge live, third-umpire replay checks are the standard way to confirm a clean boundary catch. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- On-field umpires still make the first call on almost everything and retain final authority on matters outside DRS's scope, with technology acting as a support tool rather than a takeover. (Source: ICC)
- Low catches are notoriously hard to judge live, so multiple slow-motion angles are used to check whether the ball touched the ground before or during the catch. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Current playing conditions instruct the third umpire to favour the on-field soft signal or the fielding side when replays genuinely cannot resolve a low catch, rather than leaving the decision unresolved. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- The on-field umpire's soft signal, out or not out, gives the third umpire a default to fall back on if the available technology cannot settle the appeal conclusively. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- The margins in a stumping are often too fine to judge at full speed, which is exactly the kind of decision frame-by-frame replay is best placed to settle. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Between the two on-field umpires, the third umpire's technology-assisted reviews and the fourth umpire's match-day support, officiating a modern match is a shared responsibility rather than one person's job. (Source: ICC)

## Test 5: What technology changed, and what it did not

- Every close decision once rested entirely on what the two on-field umpires saw and heard in real time, with no replay or technological support available. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- DRS was introduced to catch and correct obvious errors that used to stand simply because no review was possible, not to eliminate umpires or speed up play. (Source: ICC)
- Because umpire's call preserves some decisions purely on the original call rather than the tracked projection, fans and players can still disagree with a result even after a review. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Many everyday calls, no-balls, wides, fielding restrictions, are still made entirely by the on-field umpires without any technological review in most matches. (Source: ICC playing conditions)
- Full ball-tracking and edge-detection technology is expensive to install and run, so it is normally reserved for major international and franchise fixtures rather than every domestic match. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Because reviews are a limited resource, players have to judge how confident they are before using one, adding a tactical layer that did not exist before DRS. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Broadcasts show the same ball-tracking and edge-detection graphics the third umpire consults, which is part of why fans can follow and debate a review in real time. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- Automatically reviewing every close call would slow the game considerably, so giving a limited number of player-triggered reviews balances accuracy against the flow of play. (Source: ICC)
- The ICC has published figures showing DRS measurably reduces the proportion of incorrect decisions that stand, which is the main evidence used to justify keeping and expanding the system. (Source: ICC)
- DRS, ball-tracking, edge-detection and the third umpire each target a specific kind of decision humans struggle with, working alongside rather than instead of the on-field umpires. (Source: ICC)

Sources: ESPNcricinfo and its analysis and records sections, the ICC's published playing conditions (for DRS protocol specifically), official broadcast/board statements for commercial facts, and recognised sports-science and coaching references for training content. Level 5 covers the modern professional game, so facts are datable and checkable and every keyed answer is verified against these sources. Questions are authored from them, not reproduced from them.

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