The journey has, however, not been easy, given that some technological applications have raised a lot of speculation. Luckily, such controversies have not stopped the sport from embracing technology. Some of the major tech innovations that have impacted cricket are listed below.
Spidercam is a camera used to give a three-dimension look into the game. It is suspended from poles and roofs of a cricket stadium to capture different angles of the field. The camera tracks every detail as it happens on the ground. For example, when a bowler is out to make a delivery, the camera follows every move to the batsman through the final shot until the ball stops.
The spidercam then captures the bowler's return to his spot and the batsman's preparation for the next shot. The ability to capture such details in a cricket match has allowed coaches and broadcasters to get a replay, including every aspect such that teams can replay footage to get insights and lessons from previous competitions.
While the spidercam gets excellent angles of the game from the top view, stump cameras are installed on a different stump at the ends of the wicket. Their primary purpose is to assist the third umpires in making stumping or runout decisions. It shows whether the bat or the leg is on the line and how to place either rightly.
Stump cameras are also crucial for recording the entire game through a stumping view. Just like spider cams, its footage can be used for future skill and game references.
When it comes to having referral systems, cricket has not been left behind thanks to its own decision review systems. The system was first put to the test in the 2008 match between India and Sri Lanka.
What differentiates this system from the tennis DRS is how the cameras are set and the quality of the footage. While tennis has a precise hawk-eye technology, cricket integrates its cameras with the third umpire, which opens it to a few errors. The technology is yet to get better, but so far, it plays a vital role in match monitoring.
Talk of being able to tell the speed of the cricket ball as the batsman throws it. Technology has made this possible by the use of the ball spin revolution per minute counter. The first RPM was displayed on the TV in 2013 during the Ashes series. Though the technology is not entirely clear, it is mostly attributed to a high-speed camera.
This technology examines the accuracy between the ball and the bat to tell if there was a notable hit, especially when the nick is quite small. A contact brings about heat generation, which is shown by a change in the bat area. Two infra-red cameras are stationed at the end of the ground on either side, which senses and records friction heat to show the impact between the ball and the bat.
A technique is then applied to generate black and white frame negatives for camera recording, which localizes the ball's contact point.
There is still more technology used in cricket games like helmet cams and biodegradable paint. Hot spots and stump cameras are also in advanced stages of testing to help improve their technology. Cricket fans and players can expect nothing but better tech days are expected for this sport.
