TV viewers to hear umpires' discussions during DRS reviews in a new trial

Umpires’ discussions set to be made public in the upcoming Aus-SA ODIs

In a bid to give more transparency into the umpire Decision Review System (DRS), the International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to trial the airing of umpires’ discussions live by wiring them for sound in the upcoming ODI series between Australia and South Africa.

Channel Nine, who are the host broadcasters, are keen for the trial to go ahead, and have all procedures in place in time for the first one-dayer between the 2 sides at Perth on November 14.

"Rather than just see the umpire's decision we can get an insight into why they've made it or why they're sending decisions up to the third umpire and what their concerns are," Nine executive producer of cricket Brad McNamara said to the Sydney Morning Herald.

"It'll be great for the viewers to hear all that and get a better insight into the decision-making process in the middle. Now we'll hear they've made a decision and what they're thinking. It'll take a lot of the doubt and mystery out of some decisions.

"And we'll also hear the third umpire talking, which we've never heard before – what shots he's looking for from the broadcaster to assist the umpires on the field get the right decision in the end. It adds a bit more to that process," McNamara added on the new feature.

As a result, the fans and commentators can now get to know exactly on what basis a particular decision is made, clearing up a lot of confusion on the system.

"There'll be some things to learn from both sides; that's why it's being trialled. There's always the possibility something may fall over and we have to put it off, but if everything works out and we're all happy, we'll go with it," he said.

The move will work courtesy of fitting a microphone to the third umpire as well as the two on-field umpires. Their conversations on a particular decision, even for umpire referrals not involving DRS, like checking for a no-ball, will be aired.

Support from Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia said it would welcome the initiative: "Ultimately it's an ICC decision, but we're keen to see it happen as we think it would provide viewers at home with great insight into decision making," said a spokesman on Friday.

This experiment does not come as a huge surprise as the ICC had, in fact, recently indicated that it is keen to get umpires live on broadcasts and get their insights on decisions made.

"In time that is likely. Explaining decisions or helping to explain decisions is a path we'd like to head down in the medium term," ICC general manager of cricket Geoff Allardice had said.

The initiative, if found successful, will also seen during a select few matches of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2015 Down Under.