BLACKCAPS coach John Wright has lent his full backing to the decision review system (DRS) and the Virtual Eye technology as his team prepares for the second Test against South Africa starting in Hamilton on Thursday.
Wright said the system accomplished what it set out to do in that it helped significantly to eliminate poor umpiring decisions.
And he stressed both he and his players were more than happy for the technology to be used for the remainder of the three-match series and in the future.
Wright told a press conference in Hamilton today that the DRS and Virtual Eye technology was increasing the number of correct results and agreed with that the right calls were made in the recent Test against South Africa.
"There will be decisions that are controversial no matter what system is in place but I do think that system (DRS) is helping with the accuracy of decision making in the game,’’ he said.
"It is actually helpful as long as it gets rid of the blatantly wrong and bad decisions in the game.
“I looked at the system and the decision of Jacques Rudolph and to be honest what actually happened was that the television angle we are seeing is not actually relevant to the decision making process.”
Wright’s thoughts echo those of New Zealand Cricket, which believes the system’s benefits far outweigh any perceived shortcomings.
The benefits DRS brings the game were underlined in the drawn first test at Dunedin last week when a number of umpiring decisions were overturned once officials were able to view replays featuring Virtual Eye’s ball tracking facility.
The International Cricket Council has also backed DRS, with that organisation’s general manager of cricket, Dave Richardson, saying it had ``100 per cent support for the level of accuracy and reliability’’ of the technology.
``The way we use it is totally fit for purpose,’’ Richardson said.
Richardson said all overturned decisions were reviewed, and ball tracking was shown to be ``97 per cent reliable and accurate’’.
The DRS is only used when both nations agree, pre-series.
New Zealand captain Ross Taylor and his South African opposite Graeme Smith both stated they were happy the DRS was used for the series.
