Technology adding to the Gameplay this World Cup
As technology advances to offer something better, we see it growing and advancing different sectors along the way. ICC tries to stay ahead in the technology game and offers gameplay which is truly in compliance with the latest technology.
Technologies we use in Sports Today
We have incorporated many technologies in our sports to make decisions more accurate. HawkEye Technology uses 6–7 high-end cameras situated across the field of play. It uses bird’s eye view to determine fairplay by understanding the plight and trajectory. There are many technological improvements which add to the safety like HANS Device, Head and Neck support device, it is mostly used in motorsports to mitigate head and neck trauma. Wearable technology is also growing which tracks athlete’s health in real-time. It has dramatically reduced the cases of dehydration, heart attacks and worse. There are many prosthetic devices for disabled athletes, making it easier for them to compete, giving them a new beginning to their story.
In ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, technology is playing a major role both on and off the pitch. While they have been using HawkEye, Snickometer, Hot Spot and ball speedometer for years now. They are used in the field for multiple reasons. A Snickometer is used in televising cricket to analyse the sound of ball passing the bat, graphically. Hot Spot is an infra-red camera setup which is used to determine if the ball has hit the bat, batsman or pad.
These technologies are used to ascertain the game on the pitch, there have also been advancements in technologies which help to determine the health of the players off the field as well. Their post-match fitness being evaluated by wearable GPS trackers. BCCI is working with a UK based company, STATSports, to track the fitness of Indian cricketers this World Cup. It is done by a wearable vest that captures the vitals of the players and data will be sent to coaches and analysts and they’ll offer their recommendations based on it. Major football clubs use the same technology to track their performance on and off the matches.
ICC has also made plans to provide 360-degree replay of matches which will be available on ICC TV. The setup comprises ultra-motion HawkEye cameras, Spidercams, and front and reverse-view stump cameras. It is a total of 32 cameras. There are drone cameras from Batcam to capture the top-view of the match and for on-ground proceedings, there’s a roving Buggy Cam.
There are certain enhancements in weather-related analysis, Cricket.com is in partnership with IBM’s The Weather Co. to provide the impact of weather data on a match. We’ll be able to access this data in the middle of the World Cup. Cricket.com considers it an opportunity to bring different sources of data together and to test their new model.
ESPNCricinfo partnered with IIT Madras to introduce Superstats. It is an AI which uses 10 years of curated data on cricket. It provides data in three categories like Smart Stats, Luck Index and Forecaster, to give deeper insights on the match and eventually predict which team will win. Cricket.com uses a similar tool called Cricklytics which provides live score predictor, live player projections and death over instructions.
To promote the World Cup and increase the reach, ICC has been taking some steps as we heard in a statement, “Cricket has more than a billion fans and TikTok can help us connect with an even wider audience in such a fun and engaging way. The multi-language format of Helo also allows us to increase our reach across India, bringing more fans closer to the event,” Aarti Dabas, ICC head for media rights and digital.
Together, all these technologies take the game forward, making players perform at a higher level, and ensuring we fans get to enjoy great quality sportsmanship.
