SA vs England Women’s Test – Heather Knight – Lack of DRS shows state of women’s Test cricket

The absence of DRS was not the deciding factor in England’s comprehensive victory as South Africa collapsed to 64 all out in less than 20 overs in their fourth innings. The host board’s decision not to spend a minimum of US$48,500 (R880,000) on the technology no doubt contributed to the final margin between the teams, with at least three disputed refereeing calls all going against South Africa.

Dercksen was not given out on the field by umpire Kerrin Klaaste, but after consulting with his colleague, Klaaste called for an umpire’s review, a procedure typically used to determine whether a catch has carried. However, the ball was carried to Beaumont at chest height – and although it is possible Klaaste was blind and had to be double-checked – TV referee Bongale Jele duly gave the decision as out, despite clear doubts that Dercksen had inside-edged the ball. on her pillow.

“We all thought she hit it and of course the ref delayed the decision,” Knight said. “I think the report was about whether it was a cue ball, but it was pretty clear that it wasn’t, so I’m not really sure what happened there.”

Mandla Mashimbyi, South Africa’s newly installed head coach, was similarly perplexed by the process that had led to the decision.

“There was no communication and I didn’t understand why,” he said. “It was quite bizarre. But the referees feel they made the right decision and we can’t go against that.”

“We’re content with what we’ve got. Our job is to make sure we play good cricket. Those are things we can’t control. Obviously we’ll be disappointed with certain decisions, but we can’t change what there are people who want to deal with it who are outside this room at the moment If I leave it to myself, it might not be nice.

Asked on day two if she felt hard done by, Kapp said: “We’re probably disappointed we were on the wrong side of it, but it goes either way. It’s just the game. It’s never easy for the judges out there. Even if you get upset when things don’t go your way, it’s still hard work for them to be right every single time.”

According to Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s Director of National Teams and High Performance, the absence of DRS for the Test had been agreed by the two boards at the planning stage of the tour. However, Knight claimed that the first she had known about it was on the eve of the competition, after the system had been in use throughout the six white-ball matches at the start of the tour.

“I was quite shocked when I found out at the judges’ meeting the day before that we weren’t going to have it,” she said. “I think it’s a real shame. You come to expect it as a player now and I guess the reason is always money. But especially in Test cricket where wickets are a premium, it’s a really important thing to have. It’s probably a sign of the status of this game, maybe, that we didn’t have it, which is a bit frustrating.”

In his pre-match explanation, Nkwe added that the white-ball competitions had been prioritized because the matches had a bearing on the team’s placings in T20I cricket and the ICC Women’s Championship (IWC), as well as “the overall CSA strategy for the senior women’s national team”.

“It is worth noting that resources are currently being directed towards the white-ball formats due to the importance of ODI and T20I cricket in the current women’s international cricket landscape,” he said.

In her speech the other night, Kapp agreed that she preferred DRS in the shorter formats. “It’s a new thing that we have DRS available,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve had it available for T20s and ODI cricket. So it’s really helped in the ODI and T20 series. And to be honest, I’d probably prefer to have it in the two formats.”