England coach Andy Flower on Wednesday accused the International Cricket Council (ICC) of lacking leadership over its failure to issue clear rules about the use of the Decision Review System. Under existing rules, either side in a series can veto the use of the DRS to determine lbw decisions, something India has elected to do in its ongoing series against England, who defeated the tourists at Lord’s on Monday.
However the lack of the DRS during the first Test has cast the spotlight on umpiring in the game, with Billy Bowden twice denying Stuart Broad plumb lbw decisions which would have snared Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina. Although the decisions did not prove costly for England, Flower believes the absence of the DRS in the remaining three Test matches could fan the flames of controversy. Asked if he was concerned about the possibility of trouble in the remainder of the series Flower admitted: “Yes, I am actually. We almost saw it happen in this Test match. “It would have been wrong if the outcome of the game had been seriously affected by a couple of those decisions and it was quite right that, luckily, we did continue to create chances. It’s unsatisfactory the way it is, there is no doubt about that.” Flower pointed the finger at ICC chiefs for allowing the current situation to arise, where DRS is used in some Test series but not in others. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do, but I think the ICC should be stronger in taking a lead on these issues,” said Flower. “They are the world governing body and they should lead. I don’t think it’s unfair to say they haven’t led on this topic. “We all know that it is not going to be 100% accurate, but we also know you get more right decisions using it, so let’s not quibble about millimetres here when we know you get more right than wrong. That’s why most Test-playing nations want to use it. “(Umpiring) is a very difficult job. We all know that, and I think they would be happier with it too.”
