ICC rejects ECB''s complaint against DRS

The ICC today rejected the England and Wales Cricket Board''s complaint on the controversial usage of the Decision Review System in a January Test against South Africa, insisting that there was no evidence to suggest any flouting of rules. England complained after television umpire Daryl Harper did not overturn a not out decision against South Africa skipper Graeme Smith.

Smith had appeared to edge a ball to the wicketkeeper but was not given out by the umpire - a decision which was upheld after a referral. England claimed that Harper had not turned up the volume on his replay monitor, so he missed what they claimed was an audible nick.

But ICC dismissed English complaints after an enquiry by its Code of Conduct Commissioner Advocate Brent Lockie and Clive Lloyd (Chairman, ICC Cricket Committee). "The independent enquiry was convened by the ICC Chief Executive following a formal complaint by the ECB that relevant DRS procedures and protocols were not followed by the third umpire during the fourth Test match in Johannesburg.

The findings of the Lockie/Lloyd enquiry found no evidence to support the complaint," the ICC said in a statement. The enquiry was conduced to determine whether "correct procedures and protocols" were followed by Harper in the decisions involving, apart from Smith, Alistair Cook and Graeme Swann/AB de Villiers.

The enquiry was also asked to make recommendations for improvement of the DRS, if appropriate, including the right of reinstatement of a review where technology fails. Elaborating on the most contentious of all -- Harper''s decision to rule Smith not out -- the ICC said, "No ''nick'' or edge sound came through to Mr Harper on any of the replays shown to him and there was no deflection or change of seam position on the ball as it passed the bat.

" "Any suggestion that Mr Harper had somehow failed to ''turn up the sound'' in order to hear the edge is both manifestly wrong and entirely unfair. The volume control had been set by technicians, and they did not operate or adjust the volume control during the entire series.

"However, differing sounds were heard on the footage of the various broadcasters, namely SABC, Supersport and Sky. The enquiry concluded that it was most likely that the actual sound feed coming through to the third umpire''s room was lost at the crucial time," the statement added.