No white lines to aid umpires

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has refuted reports that it would introduce white lines on pitches in international matches to aid umpires in making lbw decisions. Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, stated that the proposal, which was raised during an open forum at Lord's last week, would first be tried out in practice conditions and then in domestic cricket, before finally being considered for international matches. Earlier reports had suggested that the experiment would be implemented in international matches from as early as October this year.

"The announcement last week was that this aid would be trialled in practice and domestic cricket," said Richardson. "It is premature to speculate as to whether it will be introduced in international cricket until the results of the trial are properly assessed."

Richardson added that a report of the findings of this trial would be submitted to Cricket Committee - Playing, the ICC body responsible for on-field issues, who would then recommend if the experiment should be carried forward for international matches.