The DRS technology is designed to reduce human error. There are many situations when the umpires can not clearly make a decision and that is where the DRS comes into play. But it is not a system without fail. We have witnessed countless instances when the DRS technology fails over the years and we saw it again today in the Ashes during a review by Marcus Harris.
So what exactly happened? Well umpire Paul Reiffer wrongly adjudged Marcus Harris in the first innings and gave an LBW. Harris misread Ben Stokes’ delivery completely and it hit his pads after which the umpire ruled him out. However, Marcus Harris felt that the ball had hit his bat first and so he went upstairs.
In fact, he saw a red spot on his bat which proved that there was genuinely a contact between the bat and the ball but shockingly enough, the hotspot showed no marks of it. It was only then that the snickometer was checked and it showed a huge deflection. So the umpire changed his decision and ruled him not out. Marcus Harris was thus saved.
However, Ben Stokes was not happy with the decision. He even went to ask Marcus Harris whether there was in fact an edge.
To that, Marcus Harris said, “I wasn’t 100 percent sure but had a big mark on my bat. Thought it might have clipped both pads and maybe a little inside edge. Hotspot is f**king hopeless.”