[This is a reply to an email (see below) from a sports journalism student]
Hi Luke,
It’s an interesting subject, and one where discussion needs to be supported by actual evidence. Which is why is such a shame that official statistics aren’t published (to the public at least).
I’ve seen various journalists quote DRS statistics in their articles. In each case, I’ve written to them asking where they got the stats. None of them has ever replied to me. I’ve written to the statisticians on various web sites (Cricinfo, The Cricketer) asking if they know where to get hold of data. They didn’t reply.
I resorted to writing software to scrape the data from Cricinfo’s match scorecards. Even with this automation, compiling the stats was somewhat laborious and I do not keep them continually up-to-date. I’m working on a new version of the software that will better automate the compilation of the data and keep it up-to-date as new matches are published on Cricinfo, but it’s a spare-time task and I have a (very) full-time job and a young family. I’m saying don’t hold your breath for an update :-)
I think there’s an interesting story there about why the data is kept secret from the public. Obviously the bad umpires (cough Dl H*r cough) wouldn’t want their performances analysed too closely. But is that a good reason for hiding the data? I don’t believe so. It may be hidden because the data belongs to the company who provide the technology to support the DRS and we supposedly need a license to use it - if this is true then it would be an interesting legal point. Each decision is made publicly, so how can the aggregation of those decisions be private?
There’s also perhaps an interesting angle for you about how teams can use the DRS system to their advantage. Again this would have to be supported by data, but there are strategic ways of using the team’s reviews to best advantage. Sample strategies:
(1) don’t waste a review on Aleem Dar because he’s never wrong, (2) reserve an automatic review for the dismissal of your best batsman (unless there’s no doubt at all), (3) don’t leave any reviews unused by the time your No.11 is at the wicket.
An important point that I missed when I started looking at umpire’s performances is the principle of the benefit of the doubt being given to the batsman. An umpire really shouldn’t be giving batsman out when there is any doubt [see footnote], especially when the DRS is there to support him. An umpire who is found to have wrongly given a batsman out should be marked down much more severely than an umpire who wrongly turns down an appeal. If I was an international umpire, I’d refuse to give any LBWs or thin snicks caught behind. I’d leave it to the fielding team to refer all those decisions to the DRS. Any that were found to be out would be given correctly by the DRS and the fielding team would not lose a review.
I hope these thoughts are helpful. Please let me know if you find an official source for the data.
Regards,
Dominic Sayers
[footnote - giving the benefit of the doubt to the batsman] This principle, which everybody believes is part of the game, is surprisingly difficult to track down in the Laws. The nearest I can find is Law 27.6, which says that if the other umpire is in a better position to adjudicate a decision then the umpires may consult and then, if there is still doubt, the batsman is not out. In other words, the principle only applies after a consultation. https://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-27-appeals,53,AR.html
—— Original Message —— From: Luke Harland To: dominic@sayers.cc Sent: 15/11/2011 12:37:05 Subject: DRS Blog
Hi Dominic, My name is Luke Harland. I am a student, currently in the final year of my sports journalism degree.I am currently working towards producing a research project based on the DRS technology that cricket has implemented in recent years, and how it has changed the role of the modern umpire. I was delighted to see that someone else was interested the subject and saw that you got hold of some statistics, which I like yourself have been searching for. I was wondering if you have found any further information related to the subject and if there was any information you could share with me? Thanks Luke Harland Sports Journalism Student Leeds Trinity and All Saints University