Cricket: Senaka wants Sangakkara help to gain recognition for UDRS

Senaka Weeraratne, who claims the authorship of the now widely used Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS/DRS) has asked the support of the newly elected President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Kumar Sangakkara to gain due recognition for his contribution to the game. 

Weeraratne, a lawyer by profession came up with the idea as far back in 1997. 

Writing a letter to The Australian on March 25, 1997 under the heading ‘Allow Appeals to the Third Umpire’, Weeraratne highlighted the importance of a 'Decision Review System' to minimize the umpire errors in the middle. 

This was later published on several newspapers in the world and in Sri Lanka, including this paper on April 6, 1997. 

However despite ample proof to say that Weeraratne has first coined the idea, which was later adapted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to minimise the on-field umpire errors, he has not received the due recognition that Duckworth and Lewis got for their work on deciding the result on rain affected limited over games. 

He wrote "In the judicial system, a dissatisfied litigant has a right of appeal against a decision of a judge, to a higher court or a full bench. Likewise a similar principle of appeal should find expression in cricket rules and allow a dissatisfied captain of a team to appeal against a ground umpire's decision, to the third umpire. Greater justice in umpiring decisions is now secured because of the participation of the third umpire, upon a request of a ground umpire, in determining appeals for run outs and stumpings. This process should be extended further with the third umpire being required to perform an appellate role in respect of doubtful catches behind or in front of the wicket, and run outs and stumpings (which are not referred to the third umpire by a ground umpire)." 

"Any objection that a two tier appeal process would unduly protract or destabilise the game, can be met by restricting the number of appeals against the ground umpires' decisions, to five per each side per each innings. This way, some of the bad ground umpiring decisions, particularly in respect of appeals for 'caught behind the wicket', could be corrected. 

The use of the proposed appeal mechanism may also contribute in some way towards containing the unnecessary tension which flares from time to time between cricket playing nations, because of poor umpiring decisions". 

In August 2008, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had made a submission to the ICC on behalf of Weeraratne, with a folder full of publications he had made to various newspapers across the world, however without identifying the author of the system or attributing credit to the true author of ‘Player – Referral’ in cricket, the ICC ran trials in November that year before adapting the same in all three formats of the game--Tests, ODI and T20s. 

Weeraratne has been fighting for justice, ever since but without no avail so far. This is when he decided to seek the support of the government of Sri Lanka and also Kumar Sangakkara--the current head of the MCC. 

"I am the author of the ‘Player-Referral concept," he wrote to Sangakkara. 

"I have been battling for recognition of my contribution for nearly 15 years-ever since ICC decided to incorporate UDRS within the laws of cricket. The foundation of the UDRS constitute my brainchild. There’s no one to challenge me on this as I have all the evidence to support and establish this fact". 

In support of this contention, Weeraratne has also obtained a legal opinion from Dr. Harsha Cabral, P.C and Kushan Illangatilaka--attorney-at-law which says that Weeraratne has the copyright--economic and moral for ‘Player-Referral’ which underlines the UDRS. 

"It is my earnest hope that you will take an interest in this matter and being a fellow Sri Lankan you will be supportive as we are of you of other Sri Lankans gaining due recognition at the highest levels of the game of cricket," the letter concludes. 

Weeraratne has also managed to get a directive issued by the office of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremasinghe to the Secretary of the Ministry of Sports to take’ appropriate action after he sought government intervention to get recognition for his work. 

"It must be noted that the ICC has made use of my concept which I developed and promoted in the cricket world over a period of time beginning in 1997," he wrote to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe. 

"Being the pioneer developer of this Rule both myself and my country i.e. Sri Lanka must get the credit for it. The term ‘cricket’ is now euphemism for fair play. It would be a travesty of justice and fair play, if the leading cricket institution in the world i.e. ICC, were to copy my innovation which I had brought to the notice of some of the constituent bodies of the ICC in the early stages, without attributing any credit to me and my country."