NAPIER (New Zealand), Dec 25: New Zealand and the West Indies on Tuesday raised concerns about how appeals against questionable umpiring decisions are handled after the fledgling system was trialled in their Test series here.

New Zealand want the latest television technology to be available after Brendon McCullum was given out caught behind in the second Test by the field umpire Rudi Koertzen and then by third umpire Mark Benson.

Benson’s review of the decision was restricted to normal television coverage and he could not access the advanced “snicko” and “hot spot” technology which indicated no contact between bat and ball.

The dismissal of the hard-hitting McCullum effectively ended New Zealand’s chase for 312 runs to win the Test, and they were 92 short when the match was called off nine overs early.New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori called for all available technology to be used if the system to overturn umpiring errors is to be successful.

“It was clear he didn’t hit it,” Vettori said of the McCullum decision. “If you’re going to go upstairs you should give the umpires as much technology as they can have.

“Hot spot seems to be the best one I’ve seen in my time – you couple that with snicko and the naked eye and you’d think you’d get the decisions right 100 per cent of the time.”

West Indies coach John Dyson agreed, saying: “I think if the feeling about technology like snicko is very good that should be another tool given to the umpires to make the decisions. Sometimes the eyes and the cameras don’t pick everything up.”

There were seven referrals to the third umpire in the first Test and 12 in the second, including seven on the final afternoon as the West Indies fought to ensure New Zealand would not reach the winning target.—AFP