Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum will have a role to play in any umpiring appeals. Photo / Getty Images
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Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum has been identified as New Zealand's key figure as the players get their first taste of the umpiring referral system when the test series against the West Indies starts today.
Each team is allowed three appeals per innings against an umpiring decision, whether it be
a batsman contesting being given out, or a bowler figuring the umpire's finger should have been raised.
"I think it's exciting for the game, it brings a new element into it," New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said yesterday. He said McCullum had the bird's eye view of the action and would be important in any appeals against a decision. All cricket's modes of dismissal are contestable.
"[Wicketkeepers] see a lot of what goes on and [have] a really good understanding of the game," Vettori said. "And particularly with Brendon being a senior player, we'll put a lot of responsibility on him for those decisions."
Teams need to be careful not to waste their appeals frivolously, and Vettori, with tongue in cheek, said he would need to "be strong with some people about wanting to appeal every decision off their bowling", with himself in mind as much as any of the other bowlers.
Umpires Mark Benson and Rudi Koertzen officiated in the recent series between India and Sri Lanka when the system was used. They liked it, believing it removed tension among the teams.
"Even if we made a supposed error, there was no 'I told you so'," Benson said. "What you're trying to do is get away from the obvious mistakes, which could decide a test."
Benson said during that Subcontinental series the system worked well.
"There were no clear-cut errors in three test matches, and there were four unbelievable spinners playing on turning tracks."
Players need to make rapid decisions whether to appeal against a decision, Benson pointing out any player attempting to get a gauge on whether to appeal from their team's video analyst in the stand would get short shrift and their right to appeal would be removed.
It was all about being smart, Benson said, and using the three strikes wisely.
Benson and Indian Amish Saheba, in his first test, will be in the middle today, with Koertzen the TV official.
HOW THE TEAMS STACK UP
TESTS
35 - NZ won 9, West Indies won 10, Drawn 16.
In New Zealand: 22 tests - NZ won 8, West Indies won 7, Drawn 7.
BIGGEST WINS
New Zealand: Innings and 105 runs, Basin Reserve 1999.
West Indies: Innings and 322 runs, Basin Reserve 1995.
HIGHEST SCORES
New Zealand: Glenn Turner 259, Guyana 1972.
West Indies: Seymour Nurse 258, Lancaster Park 1969.
