18 March 2008

Television gadgets - the next generation...

However much co-burbler Ed informs you on these pages of the need for a greater role for technology in umpiring decisions, the original motivation for (and, indeed - for less visionary armchair fans than Ed - the main attraction of) cricket technology lies firmly in the realms of amusing television gimmickry.

Hawk-eye. Snickometer. Hot Spot. 4Sight. All conceptions designed to provide entertainment to the paying viewer as he reflects with a smug sense of superiority after the eleventh slow-motion replay that Umpire Bucknor Might Have Got That One Wrong.

But where next? Any suggestions for the next generation of gratuitous television gadgets? My ghost-writer has suggested 'Rev-ometer' (copyright Cricket Burble 2008) - an on-screen display for spin bowlers showing how much spin they are applying to their deliveries.

Any other suggestions?

1 comment:

Ed said...

I think there's room for a tool that shows the angle of deflection off the bat for catches going to the keeper (and slips I suppose). That way we can say that Boucher takes edges at 8 degrees where as Ambrose has never taken one wider than 5 degrees for example. I'm basically looking for something to show how a good keeper can change the result as there is an underestimation of their role at the moment.

Also, I'm not sure how they'd do it, but I wonder if at some point in the future they'll be able to tell how truly a batsman has hit the ball by the angle of the backswing and the bat at impact, and then looking at where the ball goes. That way we'll know which are the truly great hundreds and which have been a bit luckier.

In addition to that tool you'd also be able to see how fast the ball left the bat and how far it would have gone if it hadn't hit a fielder or the boundary - allowing you to find out the most powerful batsman.