The inventor of Hot Spot today claimed the controversial device will not be used in this winter’s Ashes series.
The heat-seeking technology, which is supposed to detect whether the ball has hit the bat or the pad to help determine dismissals, came in for fierce criticism during the Tests between England and Australia last summer, when it was proved to be flawed in different moments.
And Warren Brennan, the Australian who brought Hot Spot into cricket, claims Aussie television company Channel Nine have decided not to use it for the forthcoming five contests.
“It’s their decision and that’s what’s been communicated to us,” said Brennan. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s final. I don’t have a problem with Channel Nine but the disappointing thing for us is that Cricket Australia didn’t engage at all to try to come on board and help with this situation.
“Cricket Australia is the only body that doesn’t contribute to our costs for the DRS components,” Brennan told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We tried to engage with them several weeks ago and they refused. We need to continue to invest and improve the produce so that everyone thinks it’s getting better.”
A spokesman for Cricket Australia said: “We don’t think it’s appropriate to comment on discussions between Nine and one of its partners.”
If Hot Spot – which would cost Channel Nine about £6,000 per day of Test cricket — is ditched, it would leave the umpires and teams with a reduced version of DRS. They would be able to use ball-tracking technology for leg‑before decisions, as well as audio devices and slow-motion replays to make calls on marginal catches or run-outs.
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