History
Ball Tracking Technology in Cricket was first used in a test match between England and Pakistan on 21st May 2001. Since its inception, is has been used for giving a final say on a doubtful LBW decision. The striking thing about ball tracking is that it can factor in and illustrate swing in a delivery.
While it may be obvious that it is centred around the bowler, batsmen too benefit from it as they can see how their shot selection and success rate varied across different types of deliveries.
Current Operational System
While most know about Hawk-Eye as the system that is used, many don’t know that the end on screen representations are called Shot Spot. It needs a minimum of 6 cameras for triangulation and generation of a 3D model of the delivery. Its accuracy is within the margin of 4 mm.
With regards to development, it was created by Paul Hawkins and is currently owner by SONY.
Use of Ball Tracking Technology In Cricket
It is used in several sports for the exclusive purpose of predicting what is and what could have been the trajectory (path travelled) by the ball in question. The technology is a testimony to what tech can do to sports to change the latter for good. It should be noted that decisions getting overturned due to this system isn’t a rare phenomenon.
Interestingly, some computer games use this in their gameplay including the likes of Ashes Cricket 2009 and Brian Lara International Cricket series.
Advantages of Ball Tracking Technology
- Helps in making difficult decisions
- Makes understanding finer details simple
- Analysis of bowlers becomes specific and hence, they can work to improve themselves
- The chances of making a wrong decision get reduced or almost nullified
- The variation of an over can be shown at the end of the final delivery
- A bowler’s performance becomes clear when one puts together multiple tracked paths in one frame
Disadvantages of Ball Tracking Technology
- Takes time for evaluation
- Isn’t implementable in low level tournaments
Ball Tracking Rules
There are some ball tracking rules that one must be aware of. These rules are axioms on which the entire process is dependent.
- Point of pitching
- Impact location relative to the batsman’s leg
- Resulting predicted path
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
How Is Ball Tracking Done in Cricket?
A point to note here is that the resulting ball path that gets shown is the most plausible one. It does consider several factors but it shouldn’t be assumed that it is 100% perfect.
What Is Ball Tracking System?
The system helps match officials, umpires and referees in making crucial decisions that might affect points, goals or runs directly or indirectly.
How Do You Do Ball Tracking?
It makes use of the computer vision technology. What it does is make its inferences based on the video input given.
