WC Countdown #10 - Woolmer, Cronje get unplugged

In the 1999 World Cup in England, South Africa introduced a tactic that caught viewers, opposition, commentators and officials by complete surprise. In their opening match against India at Brighton, Hansie Cronje, the skipper, and coach Bob Woolmer brought out a novel way of communicating with each other during a game by using a receiver and a transmitter. Cronje, sporting an ear-piece, was listening to the coach's view while leading his men on the field and so did pacer Allan Donald.

Information sharing between coaching staff and the on-field players was nothing new to cricket but the use of technology to do it was. Substitutes carrying gloves or drinks onto the field as an excuse to relay information or tactics have long been used by coaches. Woolmer, Cronje and Donald took it to the next step by doing it on a moment-by-moment basis.

It caught the Indians by surprise. Sourav Ganguly spotted Cronje talking to himself and smelled a rat. He relayed the information to the on-field umpires who immediately brought it to the notice of match refree, Talat Ali. ICC was looped in by Ali and a decision was taken immediately with the players being ordered to remove the ear-pieces.

ICC was of the view that it was a violation of protocol and said, "The World Cup is not the event to experiment with new devices without first seeking permission from the ICC."

While Woolmer and Cronje had not indulged in anything out of the law, the move was still seen as a violation of protocol. Woolmer was apologetic about the incident and opined that he was 'merely being innovative.' However, Cronje remained keen on the idea.

"There is nothing in the rules to stop us from using it and it's very disappointing it's been stopped. The coach sits at a different angle from me and he can give me different options when we're batting or bowling. It's always nice to hear another voice," he said.

"Are we going to stop the gloves going out?" he asked to strengthen his point.

Nevertheless, ICC stuck to their guns and cricket has not witnessed an incident of that nature hence. While it is common practice in American Football to use technology to communicate tactics effectively and quickly, cricket is yet to embrace the tactic. That incident was the first real controversy of the 1999 World Cup and engaged a lot of debate, with arguments from either side being equally compelling to the day.