Third umpire to call on-field no-balls in England-Pakistan ODI series

In what can be seen as a breakthrough experiment, the third umpire will now be responsible for calling the front foot no-balls. This system will be put to trial during the upcoming One Day series between England and Pakistan.

According to the existing system, the on-field umpire standing at the bowler's end is now responsible for spotting front foot no-balls. The TV umpire will now have a split-screen view of the four side-on cameras.

After the TV umpire spots the no-ball he will relay the decision to the on-field officials via a vibrating watch within a few seconds of the delivery. Thus, now the standing umpires will not call the front foot no-balls unless the TV umpires advice so.

This system has been incorporated because in the recent years the on-field umpires do not observe the front foot no-ball unless a wicket falls, after which they ask the batsman to stop and refer the decision to the third umpire. This has allowed many bowlers to toe the line on many occasions and they also get away with many marginal calls.

"This trial is being carried out to ascertain if there is a way in which front foot no-balls can be called more accurately and consistently, while also assessing the TV umpire's workload and identifying the impact it will have on the flow of the game", said Adrian Griffith, the ICC's senior manager.

“To ensure that the match officials are thoroughly briefed and trained for this trial, the ICC will conduct training sessions with the umpires and match referee in Southampton (the venue for Wednesday’s series opener) on Monday and Tuesday", Griffith added.

The five-match series between Pakistan and England which kick-starts in Southampton on Wednesday will be the first match wherein the third umpire will have this added responsibility.