New Delhi, Delhi, India
The debatable soft-signal has yet again gone under the scanner, with England seamer Stuart Broad requiring the rule to be discarded. The discussion in regards to the rule emitted after Devon Conway was apparently caught in the slips by Zak Crawley off the bowling of Stuart Broad on Day 2 of the second England-New Zealand Test.
Nonetheless, the on-field umpires gave the soft signal as not out and the third umpire didn't have convincing proof to topple the on-field decision. Devon Conway got relief from the get-go in his innings and proceeded to score 80 to place New Zealand in a decent position.
Prior to the beginning of the third day's play, Stuart Broad scrutinized the soft-signal rule on Sky Sports and said:
"(Whether the rule should be changed) I do, absolutely. When you calmly look at the pros and cons of the soft signal, the cons completely outweigh the pros. So to me, that looks as if it's a poor ruling."
Stuart Broad, notwithstanding, communicated compassion towards the onfield and third umpire and figured that it was the standard that was placing them in a spot of trouble.
"I feel for the umpires in this situation. It's not the umpires' fault that they're 40 yards away - potentially 60 yards in white-ball cricket - with maybe an obscured view. It's actually the ruling that's putting the umpires in a really difficult situation. It's having to get a soft signal" - he said.
"You're going upstairs because you're not sure whether it's carried or not. So then to have to give an opinion whether you think it has, puts the umpire in a really tricky position. Then the third umpire's hands are tied a little bit with whatever that on-field call is" - he added.
Stuart Broad is certain that the low catch asserted by Zak Crawley was perfect given the response from Joe Root and James Bracey, who were only a yard away from the incident.
"You can see from our reaction on the field that we thought it was out, Zak thought he had his fingers under the ball and you only have to look at Joe Root's reaction at first slip and James Bracey's reaction behind the stumps - who are a yard away from it - to know that that ball has carried" - he concluded.