DRS under fire after disputed Lyon reprieve

Sometimes a strategic silence can say more than any number of words. New Zealand's senior batsman Ross Taylor had almost got through the entirety of his post-play press conference when one final reference to the day's pivotal DRS episode arose. Taylor had already quipped, "I've still got my match fee at the moment, so thank you."

But this question, from the AAP reporter Rob Forsaith, was pointed. "What did Brendon say after it happened," he asked. "Was it hard for him to hide his frustration?"

Taylor's eyes widened. He looked out at the sea of reporters and cameras, then over to the team media manager, then back to Forsaith. "He didn't really say much afterwards," Taylor deadpanned, to widespread laughter. "That was a good thing about it, once the decision was there, he was the first one to say come on boys, let's get on with it. But yeah my Facebook's going off the hook at the moment back home in New Zealand. I've still got my match fee though, haven't I? Thank you."

The interlude summed up New Zealand's thinly veiled frustration at the decision, which followed extensive examination of the DRS by the MCC World Cricket Committee in the lead-up to this Test. Nigel Llong, the third umpire in question, was unable to discern a visible deflection when the ball passed a sweeping Nathan Lyon's bat. Nor could he conclude that a HotSpot mark visible on two replays had come from the ball. All this as Lyon walked to the boundary's edge in resignation.

"The players were pretty confident it was out, the HotSpot showed up, Lyon walking off and getting to the boundary - I think it's had a big bearing on the match," Taylor said. "But it is what it is, we've just got to get on with it, hopefully we can bat for as long as possible tomorrow."

When quizzed on how frustrating it was for a system designed to prevent "howlers" to still somehow throw up one, Taylor replied: "You've got to ask Nigel that.

"That was one of the discussions the boys did talk about in the change room, we can understand when umpires make the wrong decision on the field, but once you've got so many different angles and what not, you think that more often than not, 99 to 100% of the time you're going to get the right answer. But I guess we didn't today."

On the part of the Australians, Josh Hazlewood summed things up succinctly. "It's one of those things," he said. "All that technology there and they still couldn't quite get a decision."

Taylor still has his match fee. But the DRS in its present form has undoubtedly fewer fans.