Cricket: Eye could be turned off after criticisms

Doug Bracewell. Photo / Getty Images

The angry creator of the Virtual Eye ball-tracking system has hit back at claims cricketers do not trust his company's technology - and says he might withdraw the Decision Review System (DRS) for the rest of the series with South Africa.

Ian Taylor, the founder of Animated Research Ltd, which sells its services to Sky Television, says he will meet Sky officials today to discuss whether to remove the technology for the remainder of the series.

"There's a slim margin for error but if there were genuine mistakes we would step up and take the rap. Yet the criticism never stops. My intention is to pull the plug on the DRS unless Sky really wants it to continue. We've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and delivered it to Sky at a significant discount."

Taylor's actions are driven by Friday's comments from New Zealand's Doug Bracewell and South Africa's Jacques Kallis after Jacques Rudolph had an lbw decision reversed on 12. A review of Bracewell's delivery found it had pitched outside the leg stump which kept Rudolph at the crease. He went on to post his sixth test century.

Bracewell: "I thought it was pretty dead [out] straight away. I think they made a mistake."

He also said of the DRS: "I think a couple of guys are a bit iffy about it, but it's the same for both teams."

Kallis also had concerns: "I don't think there are any guys that are 100 per cent sure that thing's as accurate as they make it out to be. I think 99 per cent of cricketers would say that. The system is there to take out the shocker. I understand there is a place for it but how accurate it is I don't know.

"Decisions have probably improved without the shockers but it did give you something to talk about at the pub. The predictor path is the worry for me rather than hot spot or the snickometer."

Taylor is disappointed. "I have no intention of imposing any system on players which they don't trust. If that 99 per cent figure is true, we will withdraw the system from the rest of the series. How they could make that claim without walking 150m around the ground to take a look at the technology in action beggars belief.

"We also provide the New Zealand team with plenty of analysis data; in fact a number of our guys do it in their own time so the information is at their fingertips."

Taylor says their job is made more difficult by pitch variations which could be improved.

"We still turn up and find the stumps are not lined up perfectly end-to-end or the creases are not square. They need to be standardised. We can make the necessary adjustments, but it is frustrating."

The International Cricket Council's general manager Dave Richardson is in New Zealand. He will meet Taylor and Sky tomorrow to discuss future arrangements. He and Taylor will meet with Channel Nine on Tuesday to discuss the same issue regarding Eagle Eye, as Taylor's product is branded in Australia.

Richardson says players will question the system every now and then: "The ICC has analysed this issue over time. The ball tracking gives you the most accurate picture. To rely solely on the television replay is fraught with danger."

The ICC does not fund the DRS other than to chip in on the odd occasion when a country is desperate to use it in a series. Richardson is open to that changing.

"The difficulty is that the Indian board don't want it. We would like to apply it everywhere but costs are the problem. We are still trying to find a global sponsor."