Smith hopes luck changes with DRS shift

Tonight's ODI against Ireland at Benoni offers Australia their first brush with the International Cricket Council's new protocols relating to the interpretation of the 'umpire’s call' when using the Decision Review System (DRS).

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And unlike some of the prolonged on-field committee meetings that often precede calls for the DRS procedure to be invoked, Australia’s captain Steve Smith did not have to think long or hard when asked for his thoughts on the changes.

"We haven’t been as successful as I would have liked, so it will be nice to get a few right," Smith noted on the eve of the one-off ODI against Ireland.

The half-smile he sported when quizzed about the changes that came into effect in last Sunday’s match between South Africa and Ireland at Benoni was doubtless prompted by his haunting recollections of his team’s recent 0-3 Test humiliation at the hands of Sri Lanka.

During which the Australians’ ability to successfully use the video and ball tracking technology to overturn on-field decisions ran at just 33 per cent – seven reviews upheld from 21 attempts.

Not that the changes foreshadowed by the ICC earlier this year and implemented on September 22 make it a less risky proposition for teams to send an umpire’s decision to the appeals court.

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In a nutshell, the changes to 'umpire's call' simply improve a bowler’s chances of having a shout for lbw that was denied on the field overturned on review as the target area they need to hit has been extended (albeit by a matter of centimetres).

The 'umpire's call' has often created confusion among players and pundits, such as this incident in the 2015 Hobart Test.

"For a Not Out decision to be overturned, more than half the ball now has to be impacting the pad within a zone bordered by the outside of off and leg stumps (formerly the centre of off and leg stumps)," the ICC’s explanation of the change pointed out.

"And the ball needs to be hitting the stumps within a zone bordered by the outside of off and leg stumps and the bottom of the bails (formerly the centre of off and leg stumps, and the bottom of the bails)."

As it eventuated, neither South Africa nor Ireland invoked their right to use their allocated review during last Sunday’s one-sided ODI at Benoni’s Willowmore Park that the Proteas won by 206 runs.

So the practical implications of the new parameters have yet to be illustrated beyond the wording of the official statement announcing their introduction.

But for Smith, who - along with the wicketkeeper (Peter Nevill in Tests and T20 and Matthew Wade in ODIs) and the relevant bowler - forms Australia’s on-field decision making party whenever a review is considered, the new criteria can be distilled down even further.

"I guess more things will be out now when you get hit on the pad, so as a batter it’s about making sure we use our bats," said the Australia captain whose strike rate with successful reviews is only marginally better than his recent run of luck at coin tosses.

"And I guess when we’re bowling if we hit the pads there’s potentially more chance of it being out.

"We’ve just got to keep playing the same way and try and get a few referrals right."