26% of the no-ball decisions that are challenged are reversed every year. This shows how significant and frequent this error is becoming. Plus, it often leads to match-defining moments, moments which cane turn the tide around and seriously affect the game and player morale. The faulty decisions occur because of complex body postures, lapses in umpire’s judgment, and the fast-paced nature of the game which rarely offers thinking space to the umpires.
However, Noerric seems to have a solution to that. Noerric, a technology start-up from Pakistan, is bringing cutting-edge technologies like AI and Machine Learning to one of the most popular sports in the world.Wicktron is one of the first products from a larger “e-umpiring net” envisioned by the company.It is basically a smart stump which uses deep learning through computer vision to solve umpiring problems. The device uses 3D cameras and blinking LEDs to bring fairness and accuracy to the game and timely alerts the umpire through a wirelessly connected smartwatch.
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Another integral product to complement this e-umpiring system is a smartwatch that would come with the smart stump device.
The watch will notify the umpires of the stump conditions along with other important metrics that could assist him in making the right decisions in real-time.
The stump device can only detect a no-ball as of now. However, the company plans on using the same equipment for other problems like run outs and stumpings as well.
The Wicktron-Watch pair aims at a breakthrough by tackling the human-related errors made by the umpires. The solution maintains the flow of the match as the need for some third-umpire reviews is also eliminated. This has been a real momentum-breaker in quite a few matches when the third umpire decision takes longer than expected and ends up shifting the momentum to other side. Such additions to the technological side of the game would allow the game to be played with a continuous flow without any major hindrances as such decisions would be handled in real-time by on the field umpires.
