DRS in Tests is a shame, says Ponting

Melbourne:

Australia captain Ricky Ponting on Tuesday said the introduction of the Decision Review System in Test cricket was a "shame" and the innovation should have been tried at some other level before its implemenation in the top format of the game.

Ponting's comments came after ICC match referee Chris Broad said that the Decision Review System needs fine-tuning.

"If you look at it like that, it's probably the most disappointing aspect of the whole thing. It's a shame to be basically trialling something like this at the top level.

"There's got to be enough cricket going on around the world to have a look at it without using it in Test matches," Ponting told 'The Australian'.

Merits of the DRS are being debated after some controversial decisions in the Adelaide Test between Australia and the West Indies.

English Umpire Mark Benson had left the series mid-way after his decision of ruling Shivnarine Chanderpaul not out got overturned on the first day.

He went back to his country citing illness and has since denied that he left in protest against the DRS.

Ponting had also spoken to the umpires after the Test but did not reveal the details.

"The talk went well. I think they appreciated the fact of me coming to talk to them and getting their feedback about the whole thing. I don't really want to go into detail of what we talked about," he said.

"It was just for me to find out how they're handling it because they're the most important people in the whole thing and they're the ones who are left out.

"It's important to know whether they feel it's taking some of the responsibility away from them . . . whether it's lightening their workload or making it harder," Ponting said.

"The main thing that's come out of all of it is how much we've learnt to rely on technology," he added.

Former umpires Dickie Bird and Darrell Hair have both criticised the system.

However, Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkar had demanded that the system be applied in all the Tests after losing the third and final match against India in Mumbai.