Michael Vaughan hits back at HawkEye founder after his 'uneducated' commentary remark

Michael Vaughan has hit back at HawkEye founder Paul Hawkins‘ recent ‘uneducated’ commentary remark. The former England captain did not shy away from venting his frustration publicly at the ball-tracking technology following Joe Root’s dismissal in the second innings of the fourth Test between India and England in Ranchi.

Root was batting on 11 when Ravichandran Ashwin’s delivery hit him on the pads. The ball appeared to have pitched outside the leg-stump and the umpire gave his decision in the favour of the batter when Indian fielders appealed for a lbw. The hosts reviewed the decision and the ball-tracking showed that the ball pitched fractionally inside the line of the stumps. As a result, the on-field umpire had to reverse his decision and Root was given out.

Following the dismissal, Michael Vaughan expressed doubts over the legitimacy of the technology and called for more transparency. He stated that there should be cameras inside the DRS trucks for the sake of more transparency, saying:

“So here is a simple solution to help improve transparency and accountability: stick a camera and microphone in the truck so as that a decision is being made, we all know exactly what is going on, and how much humans are involved. You could argue that those running the technology in the truck are as important as the two standing umpires.

Before his comments, England captain Ben Stokes had also said that the ICC should scrap the umpire’s call rule. And the criticism of the DRS did not go well with Hawkins who did not mince his words in criticizing the commentators. The HawkEye founder mentioned Michael Vaughan’s name and said that the commentators should be more responsible with their comments.

“The commentary, I think, is a little bit uneducated. It is unfortunate from Vaughan, because, obviously fantastic player, really enjoyed watching him play, and a great commentator, very entertaining. But I think it’s a responsibility to the game, in terms of journalism,” Hawkins said on The Analytics Podcast:

“Perhaps a little bit more preparation in terms of his role as a journalist may help him explain what’s happening to the huge fan base of cricket so that what he writes is factually correct. In the same way as Hawk-Eye has an obligation to be factually correct, perhaps journalists do too,” he added.

Michael Vaughan hits back:

A day after Hawkins called out Michael Vaughan for his ‘uneducated’ commentary, the England great has hit back at him. Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday (March 2), the former cricketer-turned-commentator reiterated that more efforts should be made for the sake of transparency, writing:

“It’s very simple .. Show all decisions being made from the trucks then please for full transparency .. show the fans at home exactly how your operation works .. that’s all I have asked for .. look forward to seeing it in full flow for the next Test in India.”

It’s very simple .. Show all decisions being made from the trucks then please for full transparency .. show the fans at home exactly how your operation works 👍👍 .. that’s all I have asked for .. look forward to seeing it in full flow for the next Test in India 👍 https://t.co/gpFA515p2A

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 1, 2024

Talking about the five-match series, India have already clinched it. After England won the first Test by 28 runs, India won the next three games to take an unassailable 3-1 lead. The fifth and final Test of the series is scheduled to be played on March 7 in Dharamsala.