 The International Cricket Council ( ICC ) , responsible for running the game worldwide , conducted a trial in 2002 where lbw appeals could be referred to a match official , the third umpire , to review on television replays . The third umpire could only use technology to determine where the ball had pitched and if the batsman hit the ball with his bat . The ICC judged the experiment unsuccessful and did not pursue it . More trials followed in 2006 , although ball @-@ tracking technology remained unavailable to match officials . After a further series of trials , in 2009 the <unk> Decision Review System ( DRS ) was brought into international cricket where teams could refer the on @-@ field decisions of umpires to a third umpire who had access to television replays and technology such as ball tracking . According to the ICC 's general manager , Dave Richardson , DRS increased the frequency with which umpires awarded lbw decisions . In a 2012 interview , he said : " <unk> may have realised that if they give someone out and DRS shows it was not out , then their decision can be rectified . So they might , I suppose , have the courage of their convictions a bit more and take a less conservative approach to giving the batsman out . I think if we 're totally honest , DRS has affected the game slightly more than we thought it would . " 
