The inventor of the Hot Spot thermal imaging replay system has apologised to England after Jonathan Trott was given out by the third umpire on the second day of the first Ashes Test.
England collapsed to 11/2 in their second innings against Australia at Trent Bridge on Thursday after Joe Root and Trott, out for a duck, fell to successive Mitchell Starc deliveries.
Root chose not to challenge his decision, even though replays suggested he would have been reprieved, as technology indicated he had made no contact with the ball before being caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.
Next ball, Pakistani on-field umpire Aleem Dar initially gave Trott not out in reply to Australia’s lbw appeal.
Australia challenged his decision and South African third umpire Marais Erasmus overturned Dar’s original verdict despite the fact the side-on Hot Spot image of the dismissal, which might have confirmed whether Trott had in fact edged the ball first, was not available.
Angry England coach Andy Flower demanded an explanation from match referee Ranjan Madugalle, the International Cricket Council’s most senior official, over the lbw dismissal while bowler Jimmy Anderson called it “very frustrating”. An ICC spokesman said on Friday that the global governing body “don’t have a comment to make, because this was an umpiring decision”.
Host broadcaster Sky explained the Hot Spot camera missed the Trott wicket as it was replaying Root’s exit a ball earlier. Images cannot be replayed and played at the same time.
Meanwhile the inventor of the Hot Spot system apologised for an “operator error”.
“Here is the absolute truth from our perspective in regard to the Trott incident,” Warren Brennan was quoted as saying.