ICC to use no-ball technology for women’s World T20

DUBAI: Front-foot no ball technology will be used for the first time in a global cricket tournament later this month at the women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday.

The television umpire will monitor the landing position of the front foot after every ball and tell the on-field umpires if a bowler oversteps.

Umpires have often had to call back batsmen in recent years following TV replays which have revealed no balls.

The decision follows successful trials conducted across 12 games in both India and West Indies, which saw 4,717 balls bowled and 13 no-balls called. The ICC said all deliveries were judged accurately.

“Cricket has an excellent track record of introducing technology to support the decision making of our match officials and I’m confident this technology will reduce the small number of front foot no-ball errors at the Women’s T20 World Cup.”

The television umpire will monitor the landing foot of the bowlers after every ball and communicate to the on-field umpires whether it was a legal delivery.

It is currently the responsibility of the on-field umpires to call no-balls when a bowler oversteps the mark.

The women’s T20 World Cup runs from Feb 21 to March 8.