Cricket’s relationship with technology has often been fraught. While some things like the use of TV footage to decide run-outs and stumpings has been in place for a very long time, overall, cricket administrators have been reticent at best when it comes to expanding the use of technology. In recent years, cricket has brought in a decision review system[1] (DRS) to allow players to get additional umpiring calls checked using technology.
Beyond that, Bengaluru-based sports-tech startup Speculur says video analysis is perhaps the only technology that is accepted widely in cricket. Video analysis has been used to study and decode mystery bowlers such as Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis[2] and to find chinks in batsmen’s armour.
Speculur, along with Intel, believes it may have unlocked the next big technological advancement in cricket. The two companies have partnered to develop the Speculur Batsense, which is a tiny 50-gram sensor that can be affixed to the top of any bat’s handle.
The sensor is capable of analysing data such as the swing of the bat, the speed at which it is swung, the batsman’s form, how much a player lifts the bat before striking the ball, among other things. Speculur BatSense was used extensively during the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy[3] in England and Wales. It has been used to highlight things such as bat speed when the bat hits the ball and the backlift of the bat when facing various bowlers.
Photo Credit: Intel
TV commentators have used this technology to analyse why batsmen got out, how they deal with fast bowlers or spinners, or even what is their maximum bat speed as they hit the ball. However the real application of this technology...