Umpire, analyst split on ICC’s ‘soft signal’

REGIONAL CRICKET analyst Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira believes that cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), should do away with the use of the ‘soft signal’ in the modern game as it adds pressure to the on-field umpires. Instead, he said that the use of technology should be the means by which decisions are made.

“Particularly ... for the ICC to be calling for umpires around the world to give a soft signal is putting a lot of pressure on the umpires, because it’s not a straight-forward catch you’re dealing with. In the majority of cases, you can see that it’s difficult for the umpire to see if it’s taken cleanly,” Perreira argued.

“I think it’s really asking too much of the umpires to give that soft signal, because there is doubt. I’m suggesting that the ICC reconsider this whole impression of the soft signal and revert that all decisions be made by the third umpire, who has all the technology available, sometimes 20 to 30 cameras, and then the third umpire can make that decision. We have seen on many occasions where the soft signal has been wrong,” said Perreira, who has been providing commentary for Test and regional first-class cricket matches close to 50 years.

According to the ICC rule, the soft signal is defined as a visual communication by the umpire at the bowler’s end to the third umpire, of his/her initial on-field decision, before initiating an umpire review.

Jamaica’s first-class umpire Chris Taylor thinks the decision to keep or remove the ‘soft signal’ isn’t a big deal.

“I can understand both sides of the story. The soft signal really came into play to leave some form of autonomy with the on-field official, where they would have made a decision, based off intuition, as to whether it’s out or not out,” Taylor pointed out.

“Real time is from a three-dimensional perspective, but once it goes to the television replay it becomes a two-dimension format, which can sometimes alter the way the video footage looks,” he further explained.

As an official, I think it’s neither here nor there for me. If it’s removed, it would be more work for the third umpire, which I don’t think is a big deal, either. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has removed the soft signal and there has been positive decisions, but there has also been contentious ones,” the first-class umpire observed.

Taylor, who has been a first-class umpire in the region since 2011, also spoke on understanding from both the ICC’s side to keep the soft signal in place, and also from a player’s perspective to have it removed.

“I can see why the ICC, as the governing body, has left it in place. But I can also understand the frustration of the players when they think something is out and it’s given not out,” Taylor reasoned. “It’s a bit of a grey area, and I can understand both sides of the story.”

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com