{"id":142581,"date":"2015-04-09T11:15:25","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T05:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=142581"},"modified":"2015-04-18T01:11:47","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T19:41:47","slug":"transparency-at-the-toss-reforming-the-protocols-at-televised-cricket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/transparency-at-the-toss-reforming-the-protocols-at-televised-cricket\/","title":{"rendered":"Transparency At The Toss: Reforming The Protocols At Televised Cricket"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Michael Roberts<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Michael Roberts<\/p><\/div>\n

At the World Cup Match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the SCG on the 8th March 2015 the designated home team captain, in this case Michael Clarke, tossed the coin by stepping away from the cluster so that the florin landed some distance away. The Match Referee, Jeff Crowe, walked over and indicated that Angelo Mathews had called wrong. So Clarke and Australia were able to bat first on what turned out to be \u201ca gem of a batting pitch<\/a><\/span>\u201d[1]<\/a> (undermining the pitch-readings of the several \u2018experts\u2019 as well as the hopes of the Sri Lankan team).<\/p>\n

Once the match was done and dusted, however, one Sri Lankan chain-mail \u2018blogger\u2019 raised questions about the tossing result: claiming that Clarke\u2019s move was a deliberate ploy designed to win a crucial call. Though not asserted explicitly, this outrageous allegation implied that Jeff Crowe was part of a conspiracy. Such accusations cannot be sustained. As Michael de Zoysa told me (on Skype, 7 April 2015), Jeff Crowe is a gentleman through and through, his rectitude impeccable.<\/p>\n

As it happens, Jeff Crowe was at the centre of a right-royal tossing mess up at the Wankhede Stadium at the finals — finals no less — of the 2011 World Cup on 2nd April 2011. On this occasion Dhoni was the home team captain and Sangakkara was captaining Sri Lanka, while the stadium was reasonably full and, it is said, quite raucous.<\/p>\n

\"Dhoni<\/a>Confusion reigned at the toss.[2]<\/a> An ESPN report on the event is repeated below, but for my purposes here the sequence is best spelt out in point -form.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Dhoni tossed and Sangakkara, with head slightly bent, called heads.<\/li>\n
  2. Though the TV crew in the operational room heard the call clearly, both Crowe and Dhoni as well as Shastri, the TV compere at the toss, heard the call.<\/li>\n
  3. In the result, the toss was repeated all over again.<\/li>\n
  4. Sangakkara called correctly again and decided to bat first.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In retrospect it has been my conjecture that Sangakkara and the team\u2019s brain\u2019s trust tossed the game away. The dew late in the evening was such that India was able to chase down Sri Lanka\u2019s 265 run total with some measure of comfort. It would have been a good toss to lose because Dhoni indicated that India too would have batted first.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

    That is by the by. What is required now are some reforms in the toss protocols<\/strong>. The ICC must not permit chaos of this kind at crucial events in a contest and\/or give room for the rectitude of the Match Referees to be brought under the gun. Transparency of process must be at a premium. <\/strong>Some simple principles can be set up to bring about such a set of procedures.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The Captain-Tosser must be instructed to toss the coin within close distance of the official cluster.<\/li>\n
    2. The Captain-Caller must be instructed to shout loud and clear.<\/li>\n
    3. The Captain-Caller and Match Referee must be wired with audio-sound.<\/li>\n
    4. The TV Cameraperson must be instructed to pan his camera over the florin to show the world how the coin has landed before the Match Referee picks it up.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Simple really, one does not need Sherlock Holmes or even Watson to resolve this puzzle.<\/p>\n

      \n

      [1]<\/a> Andrew Ramsay, \u201cThe Six Moments that Mattered,\u201d 9 March 2015, http:\/\/www.cricket.com.au\/news\/five-memorable-moments-australia-sri-lanka-scg-cricket-world-cup-andrew-ramsey\/2015-03-09<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      [2]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 ESPNcricinfo staff: \u201cToss taken twice after confusion over call,\u201d 2 April 2011, http:\/\/www.espncricinfo.com\/icc_cricket_worldcup2011\/content\/story\/509133.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      [3]<\/a> Michael De Zoysa disputes my reading of this match and the emphasis on the dew factor. In his reading Sri Lanka lost the match because (a) Murali was nursing an injury and should not have played so that Sri Lanka could have deployed another bowler or bowling allrounder; (b) Sangakkara erred in removing Malinga from the attack when he had Tendulkar in trouble; and (c) Sri Lanka dropped two catches at critical moments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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