15 May 2023 , 08:06
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Cricket's soft signal rule, which has been criticised by high-profile stars such as Ben Stokes, is set to be scrapped.
The ICC reportedly plan to officially remove soft signals for international fixtures in time for next month's World Test Championship final between Australia and India at The Oval. It was already abolished in the Indian Premier League two years ago.
In January, Stokes once again urged the ICC to follow suit by getting rid of the soft signal rule, which allows on-field umpires to indicate their unofficial verdict on a potential wicket while sending a decision upstairs. It perhaps came under most scrutiny during the 2023 New Year's Test between Australia and South Africa, with a decision which got England star Stokes talking.
South Africa were denied a potentially match-altering wicket after Simon Harmer claimed to have caught Marnus Labuschagne's outside edge on day one. The on-field umpires gave a soft signal of out, but third umpire Richard Kettleborough overturned their decision and suggested that the ball had already touched the ground.
A similar incident took place only three days later, as Australia's Steve Smith held onto a one-handed grab in the slips against Dean Elgar. That time, though, umpire Chris Gaffaney gave a not-out soft signal and Kettleborough agreed.
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Frustrated with the incidents while watching from home, Stokes renewed his call for a rule change, tweeting: "ICC should get rid of the soft signal and let the 3rd umpire who has all the technology to make the decision when the the on field umpires send it upstairs. All the controversy is always around the soft signal given. This isn't a comment on the decision FYI."
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Also in January, Aussie paceman Josh Hazlewood admitted: "You should probably take the soft call completely out of it. Obviously the two umpires aren't sure on field and I think it should basically just go straight to the third umpire. They're sort of biased by that decision on-field and then they can't really find a lot to overturn it."
While England legends Michael Vaughan and Stuart Broad have both previously declared that soft signals should be scrapped, ex-India spinner Harbhajan Singh called the rule a "waste of time." "What is the point giving a soft signal when you are referring it to the third umpire anyways?" he asked on Twitter. "Let the third umpire give decision."
Now, according to Cricbuzz, the ICC have listened to their demands. Recently, they'd tweaked the soft signal ruling whereby conclusive evidence was no longer required to overturn on-field calls, meaning that third umpires - for all intents and purposes - made the final decision.