One DRS review per team per innings is enough: Josh Hazlewood

Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood believes that one unsuccessful review per innings for each team is enough instead of having 3 reviews. The 29-year-old feels that teams will use the review more wisely and carefully if there is only one available at their disposal.

Josh Hazlewood also believes that the umpiring decisions will get better if the reviews are reduced to just one as they will know that there would be very little room for error.

The ICC had announced in June that the reviews would be increased from two to three per innings per team in Tests and Hazlewood feels that it will make the teams more complacent and will reduce the accuracy of deciding to review.

"I'd review them all day if I could but to have a better impact on the game, I think one might work better. If you just had one each per innings then people would use it totally differently," Hazlewood was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

"I think umpires can fall into a trap of umpiring a little bit differently depending on who's got reviews left and how many they've got. They've got to umpire based on nothing there as well, but if you just had one each you'd save it, you wouldn't use it early unless you were positive and that's what it's there for, that howler," Josh Hazlewood further added.

Josh Hazlewood was part of the DRS drama during last year's Ashes

Josh Hazlewood

Josh Hazlewood and the Australian team were guilty of exhausting their reviews on many occasions in the 2019 Ashes series. But two occasions out of them stand out, the one at Lords' and the one at Headingley.

In the Lords' Test, Ben Stokes was batting and Australia had exhausted their reviews. Stokes was plub LBW but wasn't given by the umpire and as the Australians had no reviews left, they had to pay a huge price as Stokes went on to score 115 and England drew the Test.

At Headingley, Stokes was playing a miraculous innings and had the last wicket partnership with Jack Leach going. With only 2 runs to win, Stokes tried to sweep the ball and was trapped in front. However, again the batsman was given not out and Australia had used up their reviews.

"If we get them wrong, we get them wrong, but hopefully it goes in our favour. It's not there for the 50-50 calls but when you're in the heat of the battle, you just want to get that wicket and you think it's out at the time," Josh Hazlewood said.

Thus, Josh Hazlewood defended the Australians' decisions by saying that it was important to get a wicket during those desperate times and that's what triggered them to go for the review in haste.