How Good Are The Umpires Really?
A look at the DRS player review data available in ESPNCricinfo's scorecards
In the match notes accompanying their scorecards, ESPNCricinfo provide a record of DRS player reviews. These records are available for Tests going back to the very first Test in which reviews were available in 2008. The full detailed record showing which umpire the review was requested against, who requested it (Batsman or Bowler), and whether it was upheld or struct down. The ‘umpire’s call’ record is sporadic. It is exhaustive since 2017.
On the whole, 2.8 out of 10.5 reviews are upheld per Test match. The rate at which reviews are upheld is unsurprisingly smaller for Test cricket than it is for ODI and T20 cricket, since Test umpires are a more selective group compared to ODI and T20 umpires.
Batsmen are better at requesting reviews than fielding sides. This is also unsurprising because the batsmen are more likely to know when there’s been an obvious problem with a decision (like an umpire missing and inside edge, or ruling a batsman caught at the wicket when the ball has brushed the trouser pocket rather than the inside edge of the bat). Batsmen get 1.6 reversals per Test match on average compared to fielding sides, who get 1.2, even though fielding sides request more reviews. This suggests that the ICC’s estimates of what a good number of unsuccessful reviews ought to be is well judged.
Here’s the breakdown by year for player reviews in Test cricket. Note how the number of reviews upheld per match increases from an average of about 2.5 per match until 2015, to about 3.0 per match from 2016. This is because the “Umpire’s Call” zone was made narrower by the ICC in 2016.
Since 2009, there have been on average 32 dismissals per Test match - 19.8 caught, 5.5 bowled, 5.4 LBWs, 0.9 run outs, 0.6 stumped and 0.01 hit wickets. If you consider the 25 umpires against who the largest number of reviews have been requested in Test cricket, all by 3, faced less than 2 reversals per match on average. The weakest umpire (Umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat of Bangladesh) averages 3.5 reversals per game, but he has only stood in 2 Test matches. Given that DRS offers teams 2 unsuccessful reviews per innings, this suggests that the ICC’s umpiring system for Test cricket is essentially flawless.
Umpires sometimes make high profile mistakes like the one by Umpire Chaudhury in the TV booth incorrectly reprieving Ajinkya Rahane, or the one by Umpire Dharmasena in the 2019 World Cup Final. But those are extremely rare blips in a performance which is generally nearly flawless. The panel is also renewed every year in July. Usually, the worst performing umpire is replaced by a new candidate from the international panel. India’s Nitin Menon is the most recent addition to the ICC Elite Panel of Test umpires. He was appointed in July 2020.
The largest number of successful reviews against a single umpire in a Test match is 8 - against Sundaram Ravi, Sri Lanka v Bangladesh in Colombo, 2017, Kumar Dharmasena, Bangladesh v England in Chattogram 2016, Joel Wilson, England v Australia in Birmingham 2019. Dharmasena is currently one of the best umpires in the world. The best umpire in the world right now, Michael Gough, stood in Pakistan v West Indies in Abu Dhabi, 2016, and had 6 player reviews upheld against him.
Interestingly, Joel Wilson, who was so horrifically pilloried for not giving Ben Stokes out LBW in the last few balls of that great Test match at Headingley in 2019 had actually had a superb game. Players requested 8 reviews to decisions he gave, and only 1 of these reviews was upheld.
Finally, here’s the match-wise record of the home umpires in the 8 Tests India played in 2020-21 season - 4 in Australia with Australian umpires and 4 in India with Indian umpires. 12 out of 65 player reviews were upheld in Australia. 11 out of 55 were upheld in India. There were 16 ‘umpire’s calls’ in Australia, and 14 ‘umpire’s calls’ in India. The Australian umpires who stood in the Tests in Australia and the Indian umpires who stood in the Tests in India were equally outstanding. On average, reviews against elite panel umpires are upheld once every four reviews. In these 8 Tests, they were upheld once every five reviews.
How Good Are The Umpires Really?
Where are this Data Available for Common People