There have been a lot of sports and sporting events that have been improved with the help of the new technologies over the past decades.
Sports represent merely one of the fields or industries benefiting from the technological advances, together with other parts of our daily lives.
For example, the impact on the world of sports has brought more correct decisions during the games – those of the referees, umpires and other officials. This means that now, with the help of different innovations from the recent years, the game officials can take the correct decisions.
There have been – and still are – voices saying that the checks and the usage of technology are slowing down the game and are interfering with its values and free spirit. But the truth is that every sport benefits from technology, and this also helps the players, the teams, and the fans.
Sports like tennis (the Hawk-eye system), soccer (the VAR and goal-line technology), basketball, athletics, baseball and cricket are currently using different technologies at some extent.
In cricket, for example, the experience is much better thanks to these technological advancements – and this applies to the players and spectators alike.
People who like to bet on cricket and on other sports can rely on the fact that the new technologies will help. And there are a lot of fans who enjoy betting on events at online betting agencies. The evolution of these technologies also improved the way that cricket odds are calculated. Thus, top bookmakers such as Unibet Indiana have adapted to new technologies, which have managed to offer a greater variety of markets where you can bet and not just simple ante post bets. With all these in mind, here are some of the technologies that changed (and improved) the game of cricket:
Multiple cameras and microphones
Today, there are many cameras used in cricket – Spider cam, Stump camera, Umpire cam, and the Slow Motion camera. These are not only improving the way people are actually seeing and enjoying the games, but also they are used to assist the umpires in taking decisions.
Then again, player microphones and the stump microphones bring a new and more immersive experience.
Snick-o-meter (or Snickometer)
Known also as Snicko, this is used in televising cricket to graphically analyze sound and video. What it does is to show whether a fine noise (thus, the snick), happens when a letter ball passes the bat.
Invented in the mid-1990s, this helps identifying if the ball has made contact with the bat or with the gear of the batsman, guiding the umpires in taking their decisions.
Hotspot
Hotspot is a technology used in cricket to confirm if the ball has or hasn’t hit the batsman bat or pad. In this regard, the umpires use an infrared imaging system, tracking the impact of a ball on the bat, as well as the pad.
There are two heat-sensitive infrared cameras placed on the opposite sides of the ground, recording the game. And here is where this amazing technology steps in: The heat resulting from the friction is measured by the infrared cameras, precisely indicating the point of contact of the ball.
Like many other technologies in different sports, hotspot too is used to review decisions, being an integral part of the Decision Review System (DSR). The hotspot technology was first used 15 years ago in a match between England and Australia.
Hawk-eye
The Hawk-eye system is extensively used in determining the ball’s position when touching the ground in cricket, as well as in tennis.
A computer system traces a ball’s trajectory with an accuracy of around 5 mm. In cricket, there are at least six television cameras around the cricket field, which are linked to a computer. This computer can read the images in real time and thus tracking the path of the ball.
The views from all the cameras are combined and produce a 3D representation of the path of the ball.
Additionally, there have been many other technologies used in cricket, like the ball-tracking technology, the speedometer, LED bails, ball RPM, super slo-mo, and bowling machines. Others are pitch vision and graphics display, and all these show once again the importance of technology for different sports, including cricket.
