Over the years, Cricket has evolved a lot. The game is over 200 years old and it has changed drastically over the following years. For most of the game’s duration, the decisions were made entirely by the human umpires who stood on the ground with the players. Later with the advent of technology, cameras and mikes were involved to give improved decision making abilities to the referees of the games. But now, there is plenty of technological support that an umpire can refer to before shooting out a decision.
Let’s take a look at the gadgets adopted by the game of cricket to make the game fairer and more transparent for both sides:
1. Snickometer
Snickometer or Snicko is a device that taps on the gaps that were earlier missed. It’s a small microphone that is placed near the stumps to detect if the ball touched the edge of the bat. Through the Snicko, the umpires, as well as the audience can make out the difference in sound frequencies of the ball hitting the ground or it hitting the player’s bat.
2. Hawk Eye
Hawk Eye came into existence few years back, and it is a very efficient mechanism to judge the LBW (Leg Before Wicket) appeals. The gadget can broadcast the trajectory of the ball using surrounding cameras on the ground.
3. Hot Spot
Hot Spot is another useful measure to detect review faint edges and LBW appeals. The technology works on infrared cameras that detect the heat signature of the hit. When a ball touches the bat, the heat signature of that spot flickers, creating a Hot Spot. Thus, it gives the accurate information about the strike.
4. Slow Motion Cameras
Action replays are essential technology for any fast paced sport. The cameras record live match and can be called for reproducing a particular shot. With the use of high-speed cameras, viewers and commentators can see the shot in super slow motion, giving frame by frame view of the scene. It come really handy while judging the spilt second difference between the players arrival in his crease and the wicket keeper blowing the bails off the stumps.
5. Speed Gun
Another significant gadget that has found a spot on the cricket ground is speed gun. It detects the speed of the bowler, giving an idea what can be the pace of the resultant shot. It acts as a premium medium to keep a record of the bowling speed of different bowlers. It is this gadgetry that made us respect Sachin Tendulkar more for taking on Shoaib Akhtar’s 150-plus Km/h deliveries and sending them flying off the boundary rope.
6. Helmet Camera
It is the recent adoption by the cricket board. The batsmen and the wicket-keeper wear a helmet camera on their heads giving a close-up shot of the live match. It also makes for some epic first person POV videos of some of the epic moments within the game like a massive sixer or a batsman’s dive to reach the crease before the keeper has his moment of jubilation.
7. Glowing Stumps
Until now, camera and stumps were solely responsible for declaring that the ball has strike the stumps or not. The measure was not entirely reliable as camera couldn’t catch the details sometimes. New glow stumps have made the work easier, and it shoots a siren (glows) as soon as the ball hits the stump.
8. Stump Camera
These cameras are in use for quite a while. Small cameras are fitted within the stumps at both ends giving a unique to angle of the match. This angle is especially fun to watch when the stumps are bowled off and uprooted by some amazing bowling.
If you could add a technology to the game of Cricket, what would it be? Write your technology suggestions to make cricket better or more fun in the comment section below.
