Marcus ‘Discotheque’ at jam session in Colombo

If we are to believe the backroom boffins, the umpiring technology in use at the third ICC Champions Trophy event has been a “qualified...

If we are to believe the backroom boffins, the umpiring technology in use at the third ICC Champions Trophy event has been a “qualified” success as it is impossible to get a 100 percent success rate. And as one umpire agreed, it is not always possible to get every decision right, even with technology.

It may have saved Andy Flower at the Premadasa Stadium tonight when Dominic Cork went into his usual pantomime routine when appealing for a catch behind decision and South African Rudi Koertzen referred to the third umpire who decided that the evidence was inconclusive. What the technology has really achieved is to confuse the issue even more.

	SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND: M Trescothick b G Flower 119, N Knight b Hondo 8, N Hussain b Streak 75, R Irani c Campbell b G Flower 4, I Blackwell c A Flower b Streak 17, O Shah c Campbell b Hondo 25, A Stewart not out 23, D Cork c Streak b Hondo 0, J Snape c & b Hondo 7, A Caddick not out 10, Extras (lb-3, nb-1, w-6): 10; Total: (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 298 Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-187, 3-200, 4-224, 5-240, 6-272, 7-273, 8-287 Bowling: Streak 10-0-50-2, Hondo 6-0-45-4, Mbangwa 10-0-52-0, Whittall 7-0-44-0, Marillier 4-0-26-0, Price 4-0-27-0, G.Flower 9-0-51-2 ZIMBABWE: A Campbell b Hoggard 2, D Ebrahim c Blackwell b Hoggard 20, G Flower c Trescothick b Hoggard 7, A Flower c Snape b Irani 44, S Carlisle c Knight b Irani 23, G Whittall lbw b Irani 4, H Streak not out 50, D Marillier lbw B Snape 6, D Hondo b Irani 11, R Price run out 7, M Mbangwa not out 1 Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-2, w-6) 15 Total: (for nine wickets, 48 overs) 190 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-14, 3-55, 4-102, 5-111, 6-112, 7-129, 8-150, 9-188 Bowling: Caddick 10-0-37-0, Hoggard 10-1-25-3, Cork8-0-37-0, Irani 10-0-37-4, Snape 6-0-18-1, Blackwell 4-0-29-0

As Zimbabwe’s innings went into rapid decline in their quest to score the 299 needed to beat England, the use of the technology also seemed to get another decision wrong when the point Mike Atherton was making about lbw decisions sent Guy Whittall on his way with the score at 112 for six and the team was facing a precipice higher than the Victoria Falls.

The former England captain also feels that the technology bit can be over used. The first point he made was that the technology boffins can get it wrong as well and more to the point, mistakes and luck are part of the game. So why turn the game into a hi-tech side show to satisfy a few anchor people in a TV studio and disgruntled members of the public?

In any event England partly owe their big innings total of 298 to a Marcus Trescothick century and a record partnership for the second wicket against Zimbabwe of 141, if such partnerships are of any value in this type of competition. Trescothick’s colourful innings of 119, with eleven fours and two sixes did much to mollify the prophets of gloom following the England camp.

Zimbabwe’s tardy over rate saw them penalised two overs and put them at an immediate disadvantage and the final result of defeat by 108 runs was about as close as they were going to get on this occasion.

Story continues below this ad

There were those predicting an early exit for England tonight and the game against India on Sunday a formality. Now they are talking of going all the way. And there are those now suggesting that India are not interested in the tournament and it was obvious from their body language they are playing in the Sri Lanka capital under protest. It is a little different to the thought that India and Australia would play in the final on September 29.

It is amazing how Trescothick’s century and the skipper, Nasser Hussain’s batting, has lifted the Poms out of their doubt and lethargy. There were any number of strokes which were contemptuous of the Zimbabwe bowling. Trescothick thrashed Douglas Hondo through the covers with sumptuous grace and pulled him for a boundary in the same over. He also manhandled Heath Streak with a couple of straight drives which stunned the Zimbabwe captain.

Hussain also pulled Pompom Mbangwa with impunity as well as driving Grant Flower and Whittall in a variety of entertaining strokeplay. Trescothick was intuitive as well, adding a mixture of technical expertise. Just the sort of batting which England needed.

Then there was Matthew Hoggard, whose initial breakthrough had Zimbabwe’s top-order reeling with the first two wickets falling for only 14 runs and it was all a matter of hanging on in hope of narrowing the margin of defeat. When he turned out for Free State in South Africa four seasons ago, Hoggard was a young Yorkshire professional keen to prove himself. He had been recruited in the hope of adding penetration to the provincial attack and to an extent it worked. But he needed more work on his technique. He showed tonight that the Free State experience was a worthy effort. (TheWicket.com)