Third Umpire's Guide to Betway SA20 DRS Senior Men's 2025/26

Front-foot and back-foot No balls: review the replay of the bowler's feet landing on every ball. It's a No ball if the back foot doesn't land within, and not touching, the return crease, or if no part of the front foot (grounded or raised) lands behind the popping crease on the correct side of the line between the middle stumps. Tell the bowler's end umpire immediately; they call and signal No ball. Because you've already done this, every later referral or review assumes the feet have been checked.

Other deliveries you rule on when they arise:

• High full tosses: a ball that passes, or would have passed, above waist height without pitching is referred to you by the on-field umpire; you relay the call and they signal No ball if appropriate.
• Short-pitched balls: only the second fast short-pitched ball in an over (above shoulder height) can be checked by you. Whether the first one counted is the on-field umpire's call.
• Any other No ball may be reviewed using the DRS technology. Wides can never be reviewed.

Also:

• Liaise with the scorers and tell the on-field umpires if an over has been miscounted.
• Every short run call can be reviewed on the on-field umpire's request.

These are umpire reviews. They don't use up a team's reviews.

You may contact the on-field umpires yourself by radio if the TV coverage shows a boundary infringement or the ball hitting an overhead camera that they haven't acted on.

Show your decision with red (Out) or green (Not out), or on the replay screen in line with the Betway SA20 Big Screen Policy.

1. The player makes a "T" sign within 15 seconds. The relevant on-field umpire makes the TV-screen sign.
2. The on-field umpire opens communication with you by confirming:
   • that a player review has been requested,
   • the mode of dismissal they adjudicated,
   • their decision (Out or Not out), and
   • for LBW, whether they believed the striker made no genuine attempt to play the ball (if they say nothing, assume a genuine attempt was made).
3. A two-way consultation follows: you look for anything you can see or hear that shows the on-field umpire should change their decision.
4. Check all types of No ball first, except an illegal bowling action (you may check whether the bowler used a prohibited Specific Variation).
5. Don't withhold facts. If the batter may be out another way, say so; that other mode is judged with the original decision as the default.
6. If you can't decide with a high degree of confidence, report the replays as inconclusive: the on-field decision stands. Never give likelihoods or probabilities.
7. The on-field umpire makes the final decision and reverses it only if your information shows it was wrong. A reversal is preceded by the revoke last signal.

Apart from requesting a player review, players may not appeal to the on-field umpires to use an umpire review; doing so may be dissent under the Betway SA20 Code of Conduct.

First, check the delivery was fair and whether the ball touched the bat before hitting the batter. If the batter is still eligible to be out, ball-tracking gives you three readings.

Pitching (centre of the ball, relative to the zone between the outside of the outer stumps): In Line, Outside Off or Outside Leg. Pitching Outside Leg is always Not out.

Impact (first interception): In Line (centre of ball inside the zone), Umpire's Call (part of ball inside, centre outside) or Outside (no part inside).

Unless the bowler's end umpire tells you there was no genuine attempt to play, assume there was.

Wicket: Hitting (centre of ball inside the outline of stumps and bails), Umpire's Call (hitting, but centre outside the outline) or Missing. To reverse Not out it must be Hitting; to reverse Out it must be Missing.

Distance rule: a Not out stands even if everything else shows Out when the impact is 300 cm or more from the stumps, or more than 250 cm with less than 40 cm between pitching and impact.

Full toss on the batter: the projection assumes the ball carries straight on. Advise only on impact and whether it would hit the stumps; say nothing about its height after pitching, which stays the bowler's end umpire's judgement.

Standard stumps and bails: the wicket is broken in the first frame in which one of the bails is shown (or can be deduced) to have lost all contact with the top of the stumps, provided the following frames show that bail permanently removed from the top of the stumps.

LED wickets (Zing bails and stumps): the wicket is broken in the first frame in which the LED lights come on, again provided the following frames show the bail permanently removed.

Compare that frame with the frame showing whether the batter's bat or person was grounded behind the popping crease.

On a referred stumping, bowled or hit wicket, first check the delivery was fair (any type of No ball on request, other than the feet, which you've already checked, and an illegal action). If the delivery wasn't fair, the batter is Not out and the on-field umpire signals No ball.

On any referred run out, bowled or hit wicket, if you find the batter is out by another mode (not LBW), or not out by any mode, tell the on-field umpire. Show red for Out and green for Not out, or use the replay screen in line with the Betway SA20 Big Screen Policy.

You're responsible for counting each team's Unsuccessful reviews. Each team may have two per innings. Tell the on-field umpires as soon as a team has used up its allowance for the innings. The scoreboard must show how many reviews each team has left in the current innings.

Timing: a request must come within 15 seconds of the ball becoming dead (the bowler's end umpire prompts at 10 seconds); late requests are declined. No big-screen replays may be shown until the 15 seconds are up. A request can't be withdrawn once made.

Out changed to Not out: the ball is still treated as dead from the moment the original Out decision was made. The batting side gets the batter back but no runs that might have followed if the umpire had said Not out, except any No ball penalty found during your checks.

Not out changed to Out: the ball is treated as dead from the moment of the dismissal. Everything after that, including any runs, is ignored.

No ball found after a dismissal (on an umpire's check): the batting side gets the dismissal reversed and the one-run No ball penalty, but no runs that might have followed had No ball been called at the time. If the batters crossed while a catch was in the air, they go back to their original ends as if the striker had been out, and the striker isn't credited with any runs completed before the catch. Obstructing the field is the exception: a batter can still be out that way off a No ball.

If the mode of dismissal isn't obvious, or differs from the original decision, the on-field umpire tells the scorers through you.

An on-field umpire's own referral doesn't stop a player reviewing a separate incident on the same delivery. The player can still request a review after the umpire review, as long as it's within the 15-second limit.

When both relate to different modes of dismissal, deal with the incidents in chronological order. If the first incident shows the batter is out, the ball is dead at that point and the second incident doesn't need to be looked at.

If your decision on the umpire review makes the player review unnecessary, the player review is disregarded and doesn't count towards the team's limit of two unsuccessful reviews.

Example: the bowler's end umpire refers a run out at the non-striker's end, and the fielding captain also reviews a Not out caught behind on the same ball. The caught behind happened first, so check it first; if it's out, the run out is irrelevant.

Tell the on-field umpire that the technology (all or part of it) isn't available, but still give any relevant facts you can get from the replays and technology that are working. The on-field umpire then decides using your information and their own recollection.

If you can't decide with a high degree of confidence whether the decision should change, report that the replays are inconclusive and the on-field decision stands. Never give likelihoods or probabilities.

Reinstating a review: the Betway SA20 Match Referee may, at their sole discretion and after consulting the Betway SA20 Technical Official and/or the broadcast director if appropriate, reinstate an Unsuccessful review that couldn't be properly completed because of a technology failure. That decision is final and is told to both teams. A review is not reinstated if:

• the correct decision could still have been made with the other technology available, or
• the technology worked but the evidence was inconclusive.

For an umpire review, if you're temporarily unable to respond, keep the white light on (where available). That tells the on-field umpires umpire reviews are unavailable, and they make the decision themselves.

Any technology that can't reliably give accurate and timely information can be removed before or during a match. The Match Referee decides, with the Technical Official, SA20 management and the teams.