Senaka Weeraratna presses His Claims as Inventor of the DRS in Cricket

Michael Roberts

Senaka Weeraratna of Royal College and Sri Lanka has been persistent in his campaign for recognition being accorded to his role in conceiving the revolutonary DECISION REVIEW SYSTEM in cricket matches. On one occasion he even visited me at my sister’s house in Hampden Lane,Wellawatte, Colombo, in order to persuade me about the validity of his cause. I never had any objection to his position; but I have no clout within the ICC and limited capacities in investigating such an issue. All I can say is that SENAKA reminds me of one Anagarika Dharmapala — one of Senaka’s relatives — in the zealousness and persistence devoted to a cause. 

ITEM in elanka and in the Sunday Times  of  23 July 2024 by Rohan Abeygunawardena: ”Senaka Weeraratna should get due recognition for the DRS,”

The ICC will be holding its AGM for the first time in Sri Lanka this week (from July 19 – 22, 2024) ……………..It is hoped that on this momentous occasion, the ICC will give the long-awaited due recognition on the home soil of Sri Lanka to the invention of the Decision Review System (DRS) by a Sri Lankan.

Sri Lankan investigative writer Rohan Abeygunawardena in a well-researched article calls for justice — justice long denied — to the claimant Senaka Weeraratna.  If Duckworth and Lewis can be recognized for their invention to determine the winner in rain-affected one-day international cricket matches, why not Sri Lanka’s Inventor of the DRS?  DRS did not fall from the sky all of a sudden. 

Appoint an impartial Commission of Inquiry at ICC’s AGM this week to probe the claim of a Sri Lankan to have invented DRS — which is based on the concept of ‘Player-Referral’ conceived and first published by Senaka Weeraratna in 1997.

ICC – Be Fair ……

Duckworth, Lewis, and Senaka-by Rohan Abeygunawardena

Aug 17, 2021 Posted By ELanka Admin In Articles Tagged Senaka Weeraratna

https://www.elanka.com.au/duckworth-lewis-and-senaka-by-rohan-abeygunawardena/

Duckworth, Lewis, and Senaka-by Rohan Abeygunawardena

The World Cup semi-finals between England and South Africa in 1992 became a talking point of the cricket world due to an ‘unfair’ rain-related rule that cost South Africa a spot in the finals of the World Cup.

South Africa’s task of gathering 22 runs from 13 balls was reduced after a brief spell of rain to 21 runs required off a single delivery in this World Cup semi-final game. The game became a farce and the subject of ridicule and parody.

ICC then requested two British mathematicians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis to design a reliable model to be used in rain-affected one-day cricket matches. Their proposal was accepted and though later somewhat modified by Steve Stern it is now used as the ‘Duckworth-Lewis’ method.

Senaka Weeraratna, a Sri Lankan lawyer, conceived a unique concept called ‘player referral’ as far back as 1997 to minimize on-field umpire errors. His letter to the editor entitled ‘Third umpire should perform the role of an appeal judge’ was first published in the ‘Australian’ (Australia’s national newspaper) on March 25, 1997, and thereafter in several newspapers and journals all over the cricket world.

Until he drew public attention to the benefit of such a player referral system, there was no such system or mechanism in any other sport (Wikipedia.) His concept is undoubtedly revolutionary in its breadth and scope because it challenges the validity of a fundamental rule since the inception of cricket – the decision of the umpire is final.

The Decision Review System (DRS) is a technology-based process for assisting match officials with their decision-making. On-field umpires may consult with the third umpire (an Umpire Review) and players may request that the third umpire consider a decision of the on-field umpires (a Player Review).

Under the DRS a player of either side is empowered to appeal directly to the third umpire against the decision of an on-field umpire. It removes the finality of a decision made by an on-field umpire in upholding or dismissing an appeal. This is a revolutionary change. It goes against a cardinal tenet of cricket tradition namely that the umpire’s word is final. Nevertheless, it has brought integrity and justice to the game in place of an exaggerated, flawed, and abused method of adjudication.

In 2006, the International Cricket Committee of the ICC formally adopted the concept of Player Referral conceived by Senaka Weeraratna and later introduced it to the cricket world as the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS also called DRS).

The DRS is now used in all formats of the game (Test, ODI, and T20) whereas the Duckworth-Lewis method is purely confined to rain-affected one-day internationals (ODI) and T20 cricket matches. With the improvement in technology, the accuracy of DRS is expected to increase further and many a team and players will benefit.

A case in point is the just concluded India vs Sri Lanka T20 series. A Sri Lankan batsman was adjudged caught behind while attempting to nudge at a delivery coming on his leg side. But when the batsman appealed to the third umpire, the ground umpire’s decision was reversed as ‘Ultra Edge’ clearly showed that there was no bat involved. Sri Lanka had to take only one run to win. The umpire then signaled a wide and Sri Lanka won the match. In the absence of DRS and if it was the last bowl of the game, Sri Lanka would have lost the chance of winning the match.

DRS – a great boon to cricket

The DRS has been a great boon to the world of cricket ever since its official introduction to Tests by the ICC in October 2009. Many a batsman’s innings and sometimes even a cricket career has been salvaged by bringing into play of the DRS, which prevents patently wrong umpire decisions to stand.

It has helped umpires to be more at ease; enabled them to be more confident, and contributed towards making the playing environment better. Today the players behave more responsibly and regular on-field outbursts have been greatly reduced. Most importantly it has led to a 7% increase in the accuracy of umpire decision making i.e., from 91% to 98% according to ICC sources. It has served the best interests of cricket given the plaudits coming from all sectors for the DRS.

Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor, the Indian politician, recently expressed his views on the impact that the Decision Review System (DRS) has had on the modern game, and he stated unequivocally that it has been one of cricket’s best innovations. Tharoor further said that international cricket should never be without DRS in the future, given how many errors the technology prevents.

“DRS is such a major innovation. I never want to see international cricket without DRS ever again. It is indispensable and eliminates so many bad decisions, and it creates an additional form of excitement for the viewer. It adds an extra element of tension to the plot and it is a very welcome addition as far as I’m concerned,” Shashi Tharoor said.

The world is yet to give full credit to Senaka Weeraratna for this major innovation that has turned the game of cricket on its head. The more important question is whose brainchild i.e., that of Duckworth-Lewis or that of Senaka Weeraratna has served the best interest of the game of cricket.

Though both the Duckworth-Lewis method and the Senaka Weeraratna Rule are meant to enhance accurate decision making it is indisputable that the integrity of the game and Justice have been best served by DRS.

Varsha Thakur, the Indian journalist calls Senaka Weeraratna, the ‘Dharmaraja’ of cricket and the father of DRS.

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ÄLSO NOTE

Kamal Wickremasinghe: …. https://thuppahis.com/2018/09/19/anagarika-dharmapalas-anti-colonial-mission/

Nandasiri Jasentuliyana: …. https://thuppahis.com/2021/01/01/charting-anagarika-dharmapalas-many-pursuits/

Nandasiri Jasentuliyana: …….. https://thuppahis.com/2020/12/23/a-refreshing-new-study-of-the-anagarika-dharmapalas-endeavours/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagarika_Dharmapala