Third umpire to hear 'Howzat'?

While the annual month of October Currie Cup showdown again consumes the Sharks and their fans, rugby will be the furthest thing from Ricky Ponting's mind as he prepares to lead Australia in their four-Test series against India on the sub-continent over the coming weeks.

But local rugby and cricket fans have plenty to look forward to over the next couple of months with the South Africans headed Down Under to play the old enemy at the end of the year.

That tour will be followed by the "second half" of the Test and One-Day Series when the Aussies visit here in February and March next year.

But first the Aussie tour of India which has quickly opened up old wounds and the animosity that surfaced when India toured there earlier this year, which resulted in the now infamous heated Sydney Test where emotions came to a climax amid the Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds incidents plus other controversies.

On the eve of the series, Ponting has again addressed concerns about the taking of catches and has told leading cricket website Cricinfo.com that he was still open to a captains' agreement on taking the fielder's word on disputed catches despite what happened earlier this year.

"I will have a think about it over the next couple of days and see if I think it is the right idea to bring it up again," Ponting said.

However, Pointing said he he felt Anil Kumble, India's captain, would not be ready for a pre-series pact, and said he was disappointed with the hesitance of fellow international leaders.

"Anil was the one who didn't want that (a pact) after the Sydney Test for one reason or the other," Ponting said. "To me it's like flogging the dead horse, to tell the truth. I go to every referee meeting before a series wanting to play the game like that, but almost every other captain in the world is not interested."

Ponting himself had earned flak for appealing for a bat-pad catch off Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the final day of the Test, when replays indicated he clearly grounded the ball.

Relations between the two teams were far from ideal during the series in Australia, especially after the heated Sydney Test, but Ponting said his team would aim to put their best foot forward.

Review

Ponting says the umpire review system, recently tried out in the India-Sri Lanka series, would not be in place for the upcoming four-Test contest. "I have heard very good things about it, but I believe it won't be used till later this year and likely in our series against South Africa."

I am among many cricket fans who have long backed technology and with the unbearable heat on the umpires plus incidents like AB de Villiers appealing for a catch that wasn't against England (the same thing happened to Michael Vaughan), I cannot understand why the men in the middle do not refer more decisions to the TV umpire.

I would even back a system which allows umpires to consult the TMO when faced with a tricky lbw decision, with so many balls just pitching a millimetre outside the legstump but often given as out. Of course there would have to be a limit on some of the appeals. I think tennis has got it right by allowing three challengers per set and cricket needs to come up with a way of making the game more error-proof.

As regards the India-Australia series, all local fans will be watching with interest to see how this relatively inexperienced Aussie team cope on the low and slow surfaces.

Only four members of Australia's current squad have played a Test in India, but Ponting doesn't see the new players like Phil Jaques, Doug Bollinger, Bryce McGain, Peter Siddle and Jason Krejza as inexperienced.

Let's see how they shape up in the series, which will give the Proteas some idea of what to expect when they embark on the biggest tour in years.