Marsh’s LBW dismissal in Perth correctly tracked:EagleEye

Perth [Australia], Nov.9 : Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh's controversial leg before dismissal on the final day of the opening Perth Test was correctly tracked from its initial point of impact, the custodians of EagleEye have confirmed.

The incident took place on the fifth day of the first Test when Marsh was originally given not out by on-field umpire Aleem Dar after he was struck low on the pads off Kagiso Rabada's delivery.

The decision was later over-turned when the Decision Review System (DRS) showed it to be hitting more than 50 percent of Marsh's leg stump and he was sent back to the pavilion.

Reflecting on the same, Ian Taylor, head of the New Zealand company Animation Research that provides EagleEye for Nine's broadcast, insisted that the ball-tracking system used for Marsh's dismissal was reviewed and no error was found in it either in terms of the projection reached or the process used to get there.

"We saw the impact on the toe before anyone else did, and we saw the impact on the toe with our four cameras, and our guys confirmed it with the HotSpot guys sitting with them.

That's where the projection was made, the line from the bounce to the foot, to the stumps,"he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Taylor further asked the skeptical commentators, officials or even umpires to visit the technology operators and see things for themselves.

"What surprises me is so many people can make a call straight away with just seeing the replay from the end-on view, when we're going through four super slo-mo cameras and HotSpot.We definitely don't dismiss that and we take very seriously the views of those people.

Our doors were open to all of the commentators to come down at lunchtime - we had people wait there because we thought someone might," Taylor insisted.

Technology operators had earlier recommended that either the third umpire or an ICC-accredited official should sit alongside those working HotSpot, EagleEye/HawkEye or other devices to provide clearer lines of accountability.

Following Marsh's dismissal, the DRS came under fire with former paceman Mitchell Johnson, former Australian skippers Michael Clarke and Mark Taylor all criticising the ball-tracking technology.

Slamming the DRS, Clarke and Taylor both questioned the accuracy of the technology's ball path. "I was certain that was missing the stumps.When you look at that replay, I thought it was definitely swinging too far and missing the leg stump.

He'll be really disappointed with that. It has clipped his toe, then clipped his pad, and then got onto the bat," Clarke said while commenting on Channel 9.

Admitting that Marsh was `unlucky` to be given out, Taylor said that the ball-tracking technology appeared to show the ball to be seaming back away from the Australian all-rounder, which he believes was enough to hit at least 50 percent of the leg stump and overturn the on-field decision.

It was for the second time in the match that the DRS came under fire, following skipper Steve Smith's dismissal on the day two of the match.

Smith was given LBW out by Aleem Dar after he was struck on the pads advancing down the pitch to debutant spinner Keshav Maharaj.

Immediately after Dar's decision, Smith signalled for a review and despite being several paces down the pitch, the tracking system showed the ball to be clipping leg stump, which was enough to send the Australian all-rounder on his way for a four-ball duck.

Australia went on to lose the opening Test by 177 runs against South Africa to go down 0-1 in the three-match series.

The two sides will play their second match on November 12 in Hobart..

Source: ANI