Reviews set for South Africa series

The ICC has confirmed that the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) will be used during South Africa's home Test series against England next month.

The use of reviews for the forthcoming series in South Africa had been uncertain because of doubts over the home board's willingness to help fund the technology, but the ICC has now confirmed that the system will be in place.

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur welcomed the use of the system. "I'm all in favour of anything which helps to reach the correct decision but, in an ideal world, that would mean having the same system in place all over the world," he said.

A review system was trialled last year, but a reluctance to cede power from the onfield officials meant that the third umpire was prevented from using all the available technology, and this fudged process led to a series of notable mishaps - not least during the first Test in Jamaica, when Ramnaresh Sarwan was reprieved by guesswork after the onfield umpire Tony Hill had given him out lbw.

On the back of this experience, England were the only ICC member to vote against the adoption of reviews, preferring a system where reviews are led by umpires and not player challenges.

Under the new arrangements each side will get a maximum of two unsuccessful challenges per innings, one less than when the system was trialled last year. The umpires will also have full use of the technology - Hawk-Eye, Hot Spot, pitch maps, stump microphones - to make their decision.

This latest version made its international debut in the first Test between New Zealand and Pakistan, and has already played a significant role, with Brendon McCullum being reprieved off the penultimate delivery of the first day's play, when umpire Simon Taufel's lbw decision was overturned.

Dave Richardson, the ICC's cricket operations manager, believes reviews can prompt players to adhere more closely to the spirit of the game. "Initially when we spoke we thought a possible indirect benefit might be that batsmen, when they do edge a ball, won't hang around and will walk anyway because they will be inevitably given out in the long run and they might be shown up as, not cheats, but certainly not playing within the spirit."