CA refuses to 'foot bill' to bring back Hot Spot tool following Ashes dumping

Cricket Australia (CA) has reportedly refused to foot the bill for the controversial Hot Spot tool, the infra-red snick-detector, to bring it back following its dumping from the winter Ashes due to its unreliability and also because of its prohibitive cost of 10,000 dollars-a-day.

Hot Spot's Australian inventor Warren Brennan had confirmed that the decision-review device, which uses heat readings to analyse whether there has been contact between the ball and the bat and pads, has been axed by CA's official broadcaster Channel Nine.

According to News.com.au, CA chief executive James Sutherland said that although CA was monitoring the progress of discussions between Nine and Brennan, it felt no need to offer to bankroll Hot Spot's return.

Sutherland further said that CA already had a financial hand in Hot Spot's emergence because production costs were factored into the price paid by Nine for the cricket rights, adding that the board has never been a part of the commercial negotiations between Nine and Brennan and never needed to be.

Sutherland also said that although they have always been a supporter of the Decision Review System (DRS), they are aware that none of the DRS tools are absolutely fool proof, adding that the first use of Hot Spot was all about enhancing the quality of the broadcast.