The International Cricket Council (ICC) will use the Smart Replay system in the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. The mega event will begin on Thursday (October 3) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Previously, the tournament was scheduled to be held in Bangladesh, but due to anti-government protests, the event was moved out of the country.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will become the first ICC event to use the Smart Replay system. The technology was recently used in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and The Hundred 2024 and it is fair to say that it helped the referees make the decision faster and more accurately.
The International Cricket Council released the official statement regarding the Smart Replay system that will be used in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. The governing body revealed that a minimum of 28 cameras will be used in each game along with different analytical and visual improvements.
ICC provides official statement on Hawk-eye smart replay system for Women’s T20 World Cup 2024
The ICC also mentioned that DRS will be available along with the Hawk-eye smart replay system, which will allow umpires to make accurate decisions. When publishing the official statement, they said:
“Coverage will feature a minimum of 28 cameras at each match and will be complemented by a variety of visual and analytical enhancements. The Decision Review System (DRS) will also be available at all matches, with intelligent Hawkeye replay implemented that allows the television referee to instantly review synchronized images from multiple angles to make accurate decisions”,
The playback system will allow television referees to receive information directly from two Hawk-Eye operators who will be seated in the same room as the referee and will provide him with images captured by Hawk-Eye’s eight high-speed cameras throughout the field. . This eliminates the role of the television broadcast director, who until now tended to be a conduit between the third referee and the Hawk-Eye operators.
Not only this, the replay system will also allow TV referees to view more footage than they previously had access to, including split-screen footage. During dismissals, the television referee may also ask Hawk-Eye operators for split-screen footage.
But during that dismissal mode, if there is a gap between the ball and the bat, the TV umpire will not call the UltraEdge and will directly see the impact. The UltraEdge will only come into effect if there is no clear space between the bat and the ball.
Umpires will now also be able to access triple vision footage from the side cameras, as well as from the front, in a single frame during stumps. Previously, only a side angle of each side was seen, along with images from a stump camera.
In addition to the Smart Replay system, the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 will also have an all-female panel of referees and match officials.