The view from inside the DRS Virtual Eye truck: Tim Paine invited to see tech for himself
Sam Landsberger spends a session inside the Virtual Eye truck, where the DRS decisions that have angered Tim Paine are made, with the company offering the same invitation to the Aussie skipper.
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The technology giant behind the Boxing Day Test’s controversial lbw calls wants Australian captain Tim Paine to step inside its truck to learn just how accurate the cameras and software are.
The Sunday Herald Sun spent part of Saturday’s third session inside Virtual Eye’s truck, parked in the bowels of the MCG, as operators were dedicated to the ball tracking, hot spot and snicko technology.
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“Tim Paine – come in and see for yourself. We’ve had that offer open to any player,” Virtual Eye managing director Ian Taylor said.
“Tim complained about us in another Test and we gave him the invitation then, but he didn’t take it up. Maybe he’ll take this one up.”
Paine said he doubted the Decision Review System after he was given out lbw on Friday and joked Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor “must know the bloke in the truck” when he won a reprieve.
A closer inspection of Paine’s dismissal showed the ball struck his pad just millimetres inside the threshold to be counted as ‘impact inside the line’.
The New Zealand-owned company deploys four high-resolution cameras on a 35-degree angle from each corner of the pitch.
They each capture at 200 frames per second while ordinary cameras capture at 25. VE’s hi-tech cameras are calibrated every over, lining up a virtual set of stumps.
Virtual Eye’s Head of Cricket Angus Reid, whose grandfather John Reid captained the Black Caps, runs the eight-man truck.
Taylor said ball tracking was originally designed for broadcast purposes and he was uncomfortable when the ICC instead chose to adopt it for umpiring in 2008.
“India refused to be part of this in those early days, and I was quite supportive of their stance on that,” Taylor said.
Virtual Eye wanted to only provide the arc of the ball from its bounce to point of impact, so that the third-umpire could use the height and angle to make considered decisions.
“Those visions we guaranteed to be 100 per cent, even back then – but we said, ‘Don’t use the prediction’,” Taylor said.
But after million-dollar upgrades, Virtual Eye is now certain its data is accurate.
“We have made the investment to protect our reputation. We’re really conscious that every time we make a call it affects a player’s career,” Taylor said.
But Virtual Eye can’t believe umpires – such as TV official Aleem Dar at the MCG yesterday – do not check in with the truck regularly throughout a Test or receive any training in the technology.
Australian team manager Gavin Dovey visited the truck on Saturday, however the Test umpires have not.
Ricky Ponting said on Channel 7 that Dar should be stood down after he failed to give Mitchell Santner out on Saturday, despite replays showing the ball hitting part of his glove.
That mistake was human error rather than a technology glitch.
“We don’t understand why we are separate from the umpire in any of this,” Taylor said.
“If they have a specialist, who doesn’t have to be an international umpire but somebody trained in the technology sitting in that truck … they would’ve been able to call up and say, ’Actually, you need to take a look at this’.”
Virtual Eye just signed a deal with Major League Baseball and also captures every golf tournament around the world.
Fox Cricket pays for the technology and Virtual Eye works with broadcasters around the world.
Taylor said his company always reverted to the field umpires when there was insufficient data to make a decision.
That happened at November’s T20 international at the MCG, when the use of a wide pitch briefly distorted one of the cameras.