South Africa decides against using referral system

South Africa decides against using referral system

Published Nov. 17, 2009 4:57 p.m. ET

The future of cricket's umpiring referral system became even less clear Tuesday when South Africa decided against using the technology for its four-test series against England. The television replay system was meant to be implemented from Oct. 1 after the International Cricket Council approved it, but major cricket nations apparently don't want it and no one wants to pay for it. South Africa has now followed the precedent set by India when it began its series against Sri Lanka on Monday without the facility to challenge umpires' decisions. "The Indian board is not very keen on it," said Ratnakar Shetty, chief executive of the Board of Control for Cricket for India. "We have made that decision and opted not to use it. This is not a problem with the ICC. "There's an option as a host country to use the technology but we talked to the players and we have reported back that we are not in favor of it. If other countries choose to use it as hosts, then so be it."

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