ICC refuses to change LED bails mid-tournament

Press Trust of India  |  London 

The International Council Tuesday refused to change the controversial 'zing' bails, which sometimes fail to come off even when the ball hits the stumps, citing "statistical anomaly".

and his Australian counterpart had on Sunday complained about the flashing LED bails that glow at being hit, making the TV umpires' job a shade easy, but do not come off a lot of times.

"We wouldn't change anything mid-event as it would compromise the integrity of the event - the equipment is the same for all 10 across all 48 games," the ICC was quoted as saying by SkySports.

There have been close to 10 occasions during the ongoing when the ball has hit the stumps but bails haven't come off. The reason being cited is their weight as there are a lot of wires inside to ensure they glow on being hit.

"The stumps have not changed in the last four years. They have been used in all ICC events since the 2015 Men's and in a range of domestic events," ICC said.

"This means they've been used in more than 1000 games - this is a statistical anomaly. This issue has always been part of the game, with the accepted concept being that it requires some force to disturb a batsman's 'castle'."

On Sunday, Australia's earned a reprieve after the opener deflected pacer Jasprit Bumrah's delivery onto the via his boot but the bails failed to fall down.

"I am sure no team would like seeing stuff like that when you actually bowl a good ball and then you don't get the guy out," Kohli said after the match.

"The ball hits the and the lights don't come on, or the lights come on and the comes back on to the I haven't seen that happen so many times in the past," the added.

Australian Finch called it hard and unfair after having suffered at least five times.

"Yeah, I think so. It wasn't -- we were on the right end of it today, but I think going forward, you want -- it's a bit unfair at times, isn't it. And I know -- hit the stumps pretty hard," Finch said.

"But it does seem to be happening more and more, which is unfortunate, because you'd hate to see something like that happen in a final or a semifinal...you've done the hard work as a bowler or a fielding side to set a up or get the mistake and it not be rewarded," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, June 11 2019. 19:25 IST