rest of their team and before an animated instant replay is available; the latter will ultimately determine whether the call stands. Instant replays originally gained momentum in American football, allowing referees to view plays from multiple angles and zoom in on goal lines and other important areas. Such visual aids encourage thorough officiating and increase trust in each call, and they’ve set the stage for more advanced technology, such as sensor-based systems. These sensors can say with certainty whether a ball has fully crossed a goal line or – in sports such as tennis – landed on the line itself. Powered by Hawk-Eye Innovations, the latter technology has minimised disputes during close calls, clarifying and supporting each decision with a visual display. Back in the world of baseball, to create the ABS’s computer-animated replay, cameras are positioned around each ballpark, collecting information about exactly where a pitch crosses home plate. These replays add merely a few seconds
A NUMBERS GAME The fast-paced nature of T20 cricket makes it a perfect testing ground for the latest performance tracking and data analytics
to the overall game time, leading to quick decisions rather than lengthy review processes. For now, umpires still play a crucial role in baseball – and that isn’t expected to change. The MLB conducted a survey among fans, players and coaches about the potential of a fully automated
strike zone, and the results were largely negative. Despite the promise of perfection technology can bring, the human element endures. Technical difficulties Like with any technology, there have been inevitable hurdles. Tracking tech – meant to reduce human
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