Five times in 13 games since the start of Cricket World Cup 2019 a bowler has hit the stumps only for the electronic 'zing' bails to light up but stay firmly in place.
The latest incident of the bails not being dislodged came when Australia opener David Warner edged India seamer Jasprit Bumrah on to the leg stump at The Oval and the bails stayed put.
Sportstar reached out to Zings following widespread buzz around its 'immovable bails'. The company's director, David Ligertwood, backed the product, while stating that they were monitoring the situation.
READ| Declare a ball dead if it fails to dislodge bails after hitting stumps, says Rahane
"The Zing wicket system has operated in well over a thousand games and this issue has not happened frequently. The recent cluster currently has us stumped," said Ligertwood.
The zing bails have been in use since 2012, when they were approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC). They were used at the 2015 World Cup and have been regular fixtures in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Australia's Big Bash League (BBL).
"Zing is currently monitoring the situation, while reviewing all aspects and at the same time looking into whether there are some practical modifications that can be made in the future to make the bails come off easier," said Ligertwood, co-developer of the Zing wicket system.
"Competing interests do need to be balanced in this context. For example, the game doesn't want the bails coming off too easily (making it difficult for umpires to place them without holding up play and meaning the wind may blow them off too often). And, for example, they need to not break.
"This issue is obviously important as the game wants batsmen being dismissed when they should be. But even with this unusual spate of bails not falling it remains definitive and it remains the same for both sides," he added.
The main materials used to manufacture the bails are polycarbonate casing, battery and electronics inside, and "exactly the same bails are always used. Unlike wooden bails which vary dependent on the density of the specific piece of wood," Ligertwood explained.
"This issue isn't all about the weight of the bails, as a complicated interdependent range of factors come into play. The bails (various factors), stumps (various factors), stump grooves (depth and shape), pitch conditions (various factors), stump cam (various factors) etc all affect it.
"Testing shows bail's weight isn't necessarily the most significant factor. So wooden bails sometimes don't come off. For example, in the women's ODI this week in the UK. At times the impact is quite hard and they don't come off," said Ligertwood.
The ICC has made it clear that it will not review the usage of ‘zing bails’. “These perform exactly as the regular ones and, in fact, are lighter than those used by umpires when it is windy,” a spokesperson had said.
Comments
SHARE