Smash Factor: Matthew Wade to play guinea pig for new Fox Cricket technology
Remember when Nine’s hot spot was all the rage? Now, a new piece of technology from Fox Cricket is set to change the game again, with the combative Matthew Wade volunteering as its smash test dummy.
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Matthew Wade’s ding dong rematch against Kiwi nemesis Neil Wagner at the MCG doubles as the ultimate hook for Fox Cricket to unveil the game’s greatest innovation since ‘Hot Spot’.
The Australian star preferred to use his body as a human shield during a bouncer barrage in Perth, but when he goes head-to-head with Wagner again on the game’s biggest stage, News Corp can reveal Wade will unleash the “Smash Factor” on New Zealand, and revolutionise cricket broadcasting while he’s at it.
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Wade has volunteered as a guinea pig for Fox Cricket’s exclusive new “Smash Factor” technology which will unlock the deepest riddles of Test match batting for the first time, thanks to a sensor placed underneath the bat sticker.
Australian opener Joe Burns could create history by becoming the first man to take guard with the technology should Australia bat first, while Pat Cummins and New Zealand trio BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme and Henry Nicholls have also all agreed to have their bats wired up for a world first on Boxing Day.
The technology will provide viewers with unprecedented batting analysis in real time with Wade’s bat speed, shot power, timing and launch angle to be beamed into lounge rooms with every ball Wagner lets rip.
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“If Wade gets on top of him and starts smashing him everywhere we’ll be able to measure every shot,” said Fox Cricket executive producer, and “Smash Factor” mastermind, Brad McNamara.
“Or, if Wagner does bowl him a short one and he fends it off, we’ll get that as well. We’ll see how hard the ball is hitting the bat.
“Boxing Day is the biggest morning in Australian cricket, for the biggest and newest innovation to be put out there straight up with Joe Burns opening would be quite amazing.”
McNamara, the former NSW captain and renowned cricketing tactician has made getting “Smash Factor” off the ground his personal project for several years, combining with New Zealand company Animation Research Limited.
“In the world of cricket television, Brad knows the game better than anyone in the world,” said Fox’s Head of Sport Steve Crawley, who has worked alongside McNamara for 15 years.
Fox were hoping to launch “Smash Factor” earlier in the summer but have held out to ensure the technology would be right for a blockbuster debut.
Crawley, the former sports boss at Channel 9, says “Smash Factor” will rival the impact of his old network’s baby ‘Hot Spot’, which Richie Benaud once described as the greatest innovation he had seen in cricket.
“It’s a world first. I think it’s the biggest innovation in the game for a long, long time,” Crawley told The Daily Telegraph.
“Hot Spot was big, Richie loved Hot Spot. Snicko was massive when it came in. Stump cam was big. This is on that level – if not higher because of the fascination with the bat and never being able to judge the bat before.
“(Previous technology) has always been about the ball – ball tracking for example.
“It’ll be really interesting to get the force of a shot and when someone hits it sweet out of the middle, we’ll now get the power of it and be able to compare it to other players.”
An official from the England Cricket Board will be at the MCG to keep a close eye on “Smash Factor” with an eye to introducing it in the UK. It’s also set to become a massive feature of Indian Premier League coverage.
But it will debut in Australia on Boxing Day.
Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch both trialled the technology in the summer opening Twenty20 series, and several batsmen have been using the sensors in the nets – including David Warner, who will use “Smash Factor” in the one-dayers later this summer.
McNamara says “Smash Factor” was always going to be a game changer, but it was a matter of getting the technology right.
“The first incarnation was a plug that went into the bat handle, but it put the balance of the bat off,” he said.
“We’ve had to develop a box that will sit in with the stump microphone and that receives the data through Bluetooth.
“I think it has the potential to change the way cricket is broadcast.”
Originally published as Smash Factor: Matthew Wade to play guinea pig for new Fox Cricket technology
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