'Let's just do away with it now': Broad on soft signal after Conway incident

England pacer Stuart Broad wants International Cricket Council (ICC) to get rid of the soft signal as he feels it puts umpires in a "really difficult situation".

England pacer Stuart Broad wants International Cricket Council (ICC) to get rid of the soft signal as he feels it puts umpires in a "really difficult situation". In the ongoing second Test against New Zealand, Devon Conway had been caught at the slip by Zak Crawley according to Broad but the decision went in favour of the Kiwi batsmen after on-field umpires soft signalled not out.

"You can see from our reaction on the field that we thought it was out," Broad told Sky Sports before play on the third day as reported by ESPNcricinfo. "Zak thought he had his fingers under the ball and you only have to look at Joe Root's reaction at first slip and James Bracey's reaction behind the stumps - who are a yard away from it - to know that that ball has carried," he added.

The England pacer said umpires are far away to give any verdict on a catch at slip. "But I feel for the umpires in this situation. It's not the umpires' fault that they're 40 yards away - potentially 60 yards in white-ball cricket - with maybe an obscured view," said Broad.

"It's actually the ruling that's putting the umpires in a really difficult situation. It's having to get a soft signal. You're going upstairs because you're not sure whether it's carried or not. "So then to have to give an opinion whether you think it has, puts the umpire in a really tricky position. Then the third umpire's hands are tied a little bit with whatever that on-field call is," he added.

Broad feels soft signal's cons have overpowered the pros of the technology and it's high time for ICC to "do away with" it. "When you calmly look at the pros and cons of the soft signal, the cons completely outweigh the pros. So to me that looks as if it's a poor ruling," said Broad.

"Let's just do away with it now. The ICC should just come out and say 'the soft signal is gone'. If the umpires are unsure, let's go through the amazing technology we've got and get the right decision," he added. (ANI)

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