ICC Plans to Widen DRS Supplier Base

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will introduce a DRS certification system and explore accrediting more vendors for cost-effective Decision Review System (DRS) technology. This is an agenda item for the Annual Conference in Edinburgh (July 8-11), where Associate Membership may also be granted to Mauritius.

Currently, UK-based Hawk-Eye Innovations and New Zealand-based Virtual Eye are the only approved DRS providers, but their services are expensive—averaging $10,000 (Rs 10 lakh) per day—making them unaffordable for smaller boards, franchise leagues, and domestic tournaments.

Several Indian technology firms and some overseas companies are developing cheaper DRS solutions and have presented to the ICC. If the ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) approves the certification system, new suppliers could be accredited.

A source noted: "The ICC needs comprehensive assessment and testing for current and potential DRS suppliers. A certification system will also be explored to make cost-effective options available globally."

The ICC will also discuss expanding the current threshold of four overseas players from Full Member nations in franchise leagues. This follows a previous board meeting in Ahmedabad in May, where the ICC expressed concern over franchise cricket's growth and resolved to form a committee to harmonize it with the international calendar.

The ICC is expected to consider granting membership to the Mauritius Cricket Federation (MCF), which would become the 111th member (currently 12 Full Members and 98 Associate Members).

On July 8, elections will be held for three Associate Member Director positions. Five candidates are in the fray: Mubashir Usmani (UAE), Mahinda Vallipuram (Malaysia), Gurumurthy Palani (France), Rudie van Vuuren (Namibia), and Imran Khwaja (Singapore).