The qualifying tournament to be held in Zimbabwe in June-July is the final stepping stone for teams still in contention for the 2023 ODI World Cup
Firdose Moonda06-Apr-2023
A decision has been taken on whether we’ll have the DRS at the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe•IDI via Getty Images
There will be no DRS system in place for this year’s 50-over World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June-July, but the ICC has confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that there will be a third umpire monitoring run-outs.The absence of DRS mirrors the 2019 World Cup qualifiers, also held in Zimbabwe in March 2018, but is an improvement on the availability of a third umpire. In 2018, the third umpire was deployed in only 10 of the 34 matches – those that were televised. The 2023 edition will see a third umpire available for all games but there will be no other review tools, such as UltraEdge or ball-tracking, which may be a concern for teams considering how the 2018 tournament played out.Related
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West Indies and Afghanistan advanced to the 2019 World Cup in England, but not without controversy. West Indies booked their places after beating Scotland by five runs in a rain-reduced encounter which saw Scotland’s face a reduced target of 131 in 32.5 overs. They were well-placed on 105 for 4 in the 32nd over when Richie Berrington was given out lbw to an Ashley Nurse delivery that looked to be sliding down leg. With no DRS, Berrington could not review.There was also no DRS at the just-concluded Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in Windhoek, Namibia, where the standard of umpiring was under scrutiny in several games. Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus responded to a Twitter user who commented on a decision made in the match between Jersey and the USA, saying associate teams were made to “eat last” when it came to officiating. Namibia finished third in the tournament and will not compete in the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.