In a major development, International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the decision to eliminate the soft signal rule starting from World Test Championship (WTC) final on May 15. ICC also altered a few changes to their rulebook ahead of the upcoming summit clash between India and Australia starting on June 7 at London’s The Oval.
The soft signal rule is given by the on-field umpire, in case he/she is not sure to take a conclusive decision, to the third umpire before the latter review it. If the replay is not conclusive to take a decision, then officials follow the on-field umpire’s original decision, soft signal. But this rule has been under the scanner over some controversial decisions taken by umpires
In one such incident during a Test between Australia and South Africa in January 2023, the third umpire ruled on-field umpire’s soft signal out to not-out. South Africa’s Simon Harmer picked a brilliant catch at slip to dismiss Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne but it was a tough one for the on-field umpire as a ball and Harmer’s fingers were making contact with the grass at the same time. The on-field umpire soft signaled it as out and the third umpire ruled it not out despite no conclusive evidence in the replays.
After the match, England’s red-ball team captain Ben Stokes requested ICC to scrap the soft signal rule and now it seems that the governing body has followed the request. “ICC should get rid of the soft signal and let the 3rd umpire who has all the technology make the decision when the on-field umpires send it upstairs, all the controversy is always around the soft signal given. This isn’t a comment on the decision FYI (sic),” Ben Stokes had said.
With the upcoming WTC final and then Ashes 2023 in mind, the ICC has also made two more changes to its rulebook. Floodlights will be in use in case of poor natural light and in another rule change, teams will have a reserve day (sixth) in the one-off Test match.
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