Historic addition to Women's World Cup

Australia will be tackling one major unknown during the ICC Women’s World Cup.

It’s not a player or a team, but the introduction of the Decision Review System for the first time in women’s matches.

The DRS will only be in place for the tournament’s 10 broadcast matches – it won’t apply to the remaining 21, which are being live streamed.

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It will come into play for the first time on Saturday when England meet India in Derby, while Australia will first experience the potentially game-changing technology when they meet England on June 9 or India on July 12.

It will also be in play during the tournament’s semi-finals and final.

While the third umpire is regularly used in women’s matches broadcast on television, with on-field officials signalling upstairs for clarification on run-outs and stumpings, this tournament will allow player reviews for the first time.

And while the system is now largely part and parcel of the men’s game, the successful application of it can be a minefield for teams unfamiliar with using it – as seen when the Board of Control for Cricket in India belatedly began allowing the technology in bilateral series late last year.

Players unfamiliar with the system frequently wasted referrals, with just 17 decisions being overturned from 55 Indian referrals in their first seven Tests using DRS.

Normal one-day international DRS rules will apply, with each team permitted one unsuccessful review per innings (if a review is successful, it is not counted against that team).

Australia skipper Meg Lanning revealed her team had been practicing using the system as part of their World Cup preparations.

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“We’ve done a little bit if practice back home in Australia with myplayXplay, which shows the replays and whether we should have reviewed or not,” Lanning said from Leicester, where Australia are playing World Cup warm-up matches this week.

“I’ve watched a lot of men’s cricket and DRS and how that works, so we think we’re all over it.

“But we won’t know until we get the chance, I think England is our first chance with the DRS.

“Hopefully we’ve got the procedures in place and we’ll get the reviews right.”

While the introduction of the DRS brings an unknown element to the World Cup, Lanning said it was a positive step for the game.

“I think it’s the next step and it’s great there are televised games.

“It makes sense that if the technology is there, we use it.

“It adds another dimension to the game but I think it’s really good.”

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All 10 broadcast matches will be shown in Australia by Fox Sports, who will also live stream all 31 games, while all of Australia’s games can be viewed free-to-air on the Nine Network’s 9Now streaming service.

Australia kick off their World Cup on Monday against West Indies in Taunton, as they seek a seventh title.

Australia's World Cup schedule

June 26: Australia v West Indies, Taunton

June 29: Australia v Sri Lanka, Bristol

July 2: Australia v New Zealand, Bristol

July 5: Australia v Pakistan, Leicester

July 9: Australia v England, Bristol

July 12: Australia v India, Bristol

July 15: Australia v South Africa, Taunton

July 18: First semi-final, Bristol

July 20: Second semi-final, Derby

July 23: Final, Lord's

Commonwealth Bank Women’s Ashes schedule

October 22: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane

October 26: Second ODI, Coffs Intl Stadium, Coffs Harbour 

October 29: Third ODI, Coffs Intl Stadium, Coffs Harbour 

November 9-12: Day-night Test, North Sydney Oval, Sydney

November 17: First T20I: North Sydney Oval, Sydney

November 19: First T20I: Manuka Oval, Canberra

November 21: First T20I: Manuka Oval, Canberra