Trial Playing Condition - Review of Umpiring Decisions

All references to Clauses throughout this document relate to the Standard Test Match Playing Conditions.

The following condition shall operate in addition to and in conjunction with Clause 3.2 ("Third Umpire / TV Replays").

1. Circumstances in which a review may be requested

1.1 A player may request a review of any decision taken by the on-field umpires concerning whether or not a batsman is dismissed, with the exception of 'Timed Out'.

1.2. For the avoidance of doubt, no other decisions made by the umpires are eligible for review.

1.3. Only the batsman involved in a dismissal may request a review of an 'Out' decision and only the captain (or acting captain) of the fielding team may request a review of a 'Not Out' decision.

1.4. A decision concerning whether or not a batsman is dismissed that could have been referred by the on-field umpire to the TV umpire under Clause 3.2, is eligible for review as soon as it is clear that the on-field umpire has chosen not to make the referral

2. The manner of requesting the review

2.1. The request should be made by the player making a 'T' sign with both forearms at head height.

2.2. The total time elapsed between the ball becoming dead and the review request being made should be no more than a few seconds. If the umpires believe that a request has not been made sufficiently promptly, they may at their discretion decline to review the decision.

2.3. The captain may consult with the bowler and other fielders or the two batsmen may consult with each other prior to deciding whether to request a review. However, in order to meet the requirement of 2.2 above, such consultation will need to occur almost instantly and be very brief.

2.4. If the umpires believe that the captain or batsman has received direct or indirect input emanating other than from the players on the field, then they may at their discretion decline the request for a review. In particular, signals from the dressing room should not be given.

2.5. No replays, either at normal speed or slow motion, should be shown on a big screen to spectators within a few seconds of the ball becoming dead.

2.6. If either umpire refers a decision under Clause 3.2, this does not preclude a player seeking a review of a separate incident from the same delivery. The review request may be made after the umpire's referral provided it is still within the timescale described in 2.2 above. (See 8.2 and 8.3 for the process for addressing both a referral and a review.)

2.7. A request for a review may not be withdrawn once it has been made.

3. The process of consultation

3.1. On receipt of an eligible and timely request for a review, the on-field umpire will make the sign of a television with his hands in the normal way.

3.2. He will initiate communication with the TV umpire by confirming the decision that has been made and that the player has requested a review.

3.3. The TV umpire must then work alone, independent of outside help or comment, other than when consulting the on-field umpire.

3.4. A two-way consultation process should begin to investigate whether there is anything that the TV umpire can see or hear which would indicate that the on-field umpire should change his decision.

3.5. This consultation should be on points of fact, where possible phrased in a manner leading to yes or no answers. Questions requiring a series of judgements, such as "do you think the ball was going on to hit the wicket?" are to be avoided.

3.6. However, the TV umpire shall not withhold any factual information which may help in the decision making process, even if the information is not directly prompted by the on-field umpire's questions. In particular, in reviewing a dismissal, the TV umpire may notify the on-field umpire of conclusive evidence of other modes of dismissal, beyond that initially reviewed.

3.7. The TV umpire should initially check whether the delivery is fair under Law 24.5 ('fair delivery - the feet') and under Clause 42.4.2(a) ('full toss passing above waist height'), where appropriate advising the on-field umpire accordingly.

3.8. If despite the available technology, the TV umpire is unable to answer with certainty or with reasonable confidence a particular question posed by the on-field umpire, then he should report that the replays are 'inconclusive'. The TV umpire should not give answers conveying likelihoods or probabilities.

3.9. The on-field umpire must then make his decision based on those factual questions that were answered by the TV umpire, any other factual information offered by the TV umpire and his recollection and opinion of the original incident.

3.10. The on-field umpire will reverse his decision if the nature of the supplementary information received from the TV umpire when combined with his own recollection and opinion makes it appropriate for him to do so. He must be satisfied with any decision that he makes, since the responsibility for the decision remains with him.

4. The process for communicating the final decision

4.1. When the on-field umpire has reached a decision, he should advise the TV director (directly or via the TV umpire).

4.2. The on-field umpire should then be on camera and thus be seen on television and where available on the big screen.

4.3. For reviews concerning potential dismissals, he should then indicate "Out" by raising his finger above his head in a normal yet prominent manner or indicate "Not Out" by crossing his hands in a horizontal position side to side in front and above his waist three times (as per a 'safe' decision in baseball). Where the decision is a reversal of the on-field umpire's previous decision, he should make the 'revoke last signal' indication immediately prior to the above.

4.4. If the mode of dismissal is not obvious or not the same as that on which the original decision was based, then the umpire should advise the official scorers via the TV umpire.

5. Number of review requests permitted

5.1. Each team is allowed to make three unsuccessful review requests per innings. If a review results in the umpire reversing his original decision, then the request has been successful and does not count towards the innings limit. If the umpire's decision is unchanged, the review is unsuccessful. After three unsuccessful requests by one team, no further review requests will be allowed by that team during the current innings.

5.2. If following a review, an umpire upholds a decision of 'Out', but for a different mode of dismissal from that for which the original decision was given, then the request will still be regarded as unsuccessful.

5.3. If a review request and an umpiring referral occur from the same delivery and the decision from the referral renders the review unnecessary (see 8.2 and 8.3), then the request will be ignored and not be counted as unsuccessful.

5.4. The TV umpire shall be responsible for counting the number of unsuccessful reviews and advising the on-field umpires once either team has exhausted their allowance for that innings.

5.5. The scoreboard shall display, for the innings in progress, the number of reviews remaining available to each team.

6. Dead ball

6.1. If following a review request, an original decision of 'Out' is changed to 'Not Out', then the ball is still deemed to have become dead when the original decision was made (as per Law 23.1(a)(iii)). The batting side, while benefiting from the reversal of the dismissal, will not benefit from any runs that may subsequently have accrued from the delivery had the on-field umpire originally made a 'Not Out' decision, other than any No Balls penalty that could arise under 3.7 above.

6.2. If an original decision of 'Not Out' is changed to 'Out', the ball will retrospectively be deemed to have become dead from the moment of the dismissal event. All subsequent events, including any runs scored, are ignored.

7. Use of technology

7.1. The following technology may be used by the TV umpire. - Slow motion replays from all available cameras - Super slow motion replays from all available cameras - Ultra motion camera replays from all available cameras - The mat (positioned accurately) - Sound from the stump microphones with the replays at normal speed and slow motion - Approved ball tracking technology (for actual ball tracking purposes only and not for predicting the potential future trajectory of the ball)

7.2. Where practical usage or further testing indicates that any of the above forms of technology cannot reliably provide accurate and timely information, then it may be removed from this list prior to or during a match. The final decision regarding the technology to be used in a given match will be taken by the Match Referee in consultation with ICC Management and the competing teams' governing bodies.

7.3. For the avoidance of doubt, the forms of technology known as 'Snicko' and 'Hot Spot' are not to be used by the TV umpire.

8. Combining referrals with reviews

8.1. If a referral (under Clause 3.2) and a review request are made following the same delivery but relating to separate modes of dismissal, the following procedure shall apply. 8.2. The referral should be carried out prior to the review if all of the following conditions apply: i. The review has been requested by the fielding side ii. The referral and the review both relate to the dismissal of the same batsman iii. If the batsman is out, the number of runs scored from the delivery would be the same for both modes of dismissal iv. If the batsman is out, the batsman on strike for the next delivery would be the same for both modes of dismissal

If the referral leads the TV umpire to make a decision of 'Out', then this will be displayed in the usual manner and the review will not be performed. If the referral results in a not out decision, then the TV umpire will make no public decision but proceed to address the review request. For illustration, following an unsuccessful lbw appeal, the striker sets off for a run, is sent back and there is an appeal for his run out. The lbw decision is reviewed and the run out referred. The four criteria above are satisfied, so the run out referral is determined first. Should the appeal for run out be 'Out', then there is no requirement for the lbw review to take place.

8.3. In all other circumstances, the two incidents shall be addressed in chronological order. If the conclusion from the first incident is that a batsman is dismissed, then the ball would be deemed to have become dead at that point, rendering investigation of the second incident unnecessary.

9. Interpretation of Laws

9.1. When using technology to determine where the ball pitched (as per Law 36.1(b)), the TV umpire should refer to the "point" (or centre) of the ball. Therefore if at least 50% of the ball pitches outside the line of leg stump, then no lbw dismissal is possible.

9.2. When using technology to determine the point of impact (as per Law 36.1 (d)), if any part of the ball is intercepted between wicket and wicket, then the point of impact is deemed to have been between wicket and wicket.

9.3. When using a replay to determine the moment at which the wicket has been put down (as per Law 28.1), the TV umpire should deem this to be the first frame in which one of the bails is shown (or can be deduced) to have lost all contact with the top of the stumps.