Cricket: DRS system comes under fire in Boxing Day test

Tim Paine, Travis Head and Neil Wagner were all caught up in DRS controversy on day two of the Boxing Day test. Photo / Getty

Aussie captain Tim Paine's controversial DRS dismissal has divided the cricketing world after he was dismissed from a seemingly impossible angle around the stumps.

But it wasn't the only incident with three controversial calls dragging technology back into the cricketing spotlight.

Paine was the only one given out, with Travis Head surviving an odd call, while New Zealand's Ross Taylor also survived a strong call.

OVERTURNED ON REVIEW!#Pattinson thought he had another massive scalp, but Ross Taylor reviews it - it's going over!#NZ 2/40 (AUS 467) | #AUSvNZ live blog: https://t.co/bXqr2GBhn5#DRS #BoxingDayTest pic.twitter.com/wmPNWchNuq

— News Cricket (@NewsCorpCricket) December 27, 2019

Taylor was given out with all the commentators thinking he looked dead to rights but successfully overturned the LBW call with the ball going well over according to the technology.

While Paine batted well for his 79, his highest score as Australian Test captain, his dismissal left fans scratching their heads.

Replays showed Paine stepping forward towards the pitch of the ball, in a movement that had his front pad flirting with the line of off stump.

The DRS showed the ball cut back into Paine just inside the line of off stump and was going on to hit middle stump.

Watching replay on TV I thought it hit him outside the line of off stump. Reckon that's what umpire thought live too. #AUSvNZ https://t.co/d0Q7w8IIy6

— Travis Meyn (@travismeyn) December 27, 2019

The DRS prediction baffled commentators who claimed it didn't make any sense that Wagner's ball could have cut back into Paine so dramatically, struck him in line and also gone on to hit middle stump three-quarters of the way up.

Even the commentators were perplexed with Mike Hussey and Adam Gilchrist both saying they were surprised by the overturned call.

Avoided being umpire's call for outside the line by about a 10th of a millimetre #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/jLrfJLhP8x

— Daniel Brettig 🏏 (@danbrettig) December 27, 2019

At stumps, Paine spoke to ABC Grandstand but when asked he said "don't start".

"I would have liked it to have been outside the line," he said. "I thought from the length that it pitched, and the bloke bowling around the wicket, it's pretty difficult to hit you in line, and hit the stumps. I think it pitched about seven metres, and still hit halfway up.

"And then you get one late tonight which, the guy's stuck on the crease, he's hit really full and it's going over, so it's disappointing and it makes me angry.

"It's probably why my review system is so bad because I've clearly got no idea."

Paine admitted the Aussies would have referred the decision if it hadn't been given out.

"I've got a few doubts, no doubt about that," he said. "I won't go into it too far because I'll get in trouble but I'm just seeing time and time again, what I see to the naked eye, or watching it on television in real time, and then what it comes up as, is sometimes a little bit off the mark."

It was even more baffling considering Head was saved by the DRS after being given not out with the ball deemed to be too close to overturn despite seemingly taking a large proportion of the stumps.

"We discussed it earlier about this umpires call and that ball was hitting the stumps," Kerry O'Keeffe told Fox Cricket.

"New Zealanders of course are not liking it, but the original decision stands."