Paul Hawkins, the founder of Hawk-Eye technology, has slammed former England cricketer Michael Vaughan for his comments regarding the Decision Review System (DRS) following Joe Root's contentious dismissal in the Ranchi Test against India.
During the second innings, a delivery from Ravichandran Ashwin struck Root's pad, prompting an LBW appeal. Despite the umpire's initial reluctance, India opted for a review. While it appeared that the ball had pitched outside the leg-stump, the technology adjudged Root out.
Bet here on India vs England and other cricket matches!
Vaughan, along with some experts and fans, expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, calling for increased transparency in the DRS process to alleviate doubts. In response, Hawkins elucidated how Hawk-Eye technology operates within the DRS framework, highlighting measures undertaken to ensure accuracy and transparency.
What did Paul Hawkins say?
"For every day, the guys will go out and measure the width of the stumps. And so that gets entered into the system. So you're working off of the actual width of those stumps... So you calibrate the system for the environment that it's there," said the technology founder on The Analyst podcast.
"A good process that's evolved in terms of quality control is that there is a van camera, which is more an internal process, making sure people aren't on their phones. But the best thing in terms of quality control is an automatic screengrab of the tracking system is taken and that automatically goes to the ICC.
"So whilst it will never go to broadcast because there's lots of intellectual property within those screengrabs for the internal quality control for the people that need to make sure that the technology providers are providing accurate answers, that's all done," he added.
Hawkins criticized Vaughan's commentary as "uneducated," emphasizing the responsibility of journalists, including former players turned commentators, to provide accurate information to cricket enthusiasts. He urged Vaughan to enhance his understanding of the game's technical aspects to deliver factually correct analysis, akin to Hawk-Eye's commitment to accuracy.
"The commentary, I think, is a little bit uneducated," he said.
"It is unfortunate from Vaughan, because, obviously he was a fantastic player, really enjoyed watching him play, and a great commentator, very entertaining. But I think it's a responsibility to the game, in terms of journalism. Perhaps a little bit more preparation in terms of his role as a journalist may help him explain what's happening to the huge fan base of cricket so that what he writes is factually correct. In the same way as Hawk-Eye has an obligation to be factually correct, perhaps journalists do too," said Hawkins.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Learn more >