Nine has been told by the ICC that umpires will be using it, along with Hot Spot and the Eagle Eye ball-tracking and stump microphones, to determine whether or not batsmen are out. The ICC has agreed that the Ashes series will be a trial for the new technology before it decide to introduce it for all Tests. "Real-time Snicko will be part of the DRS [decision review system]. Both teams' boards have agreed to do it," Nine's executive producer of cricket Brad McNamara said. "We had a difficult negotiation [with BBG Sports] but thankfully we've come together. We're thrilled to have Hot Spot continue as part of the coverage. "We're all about the best technology in the world. We feel that is among it and are looking forward to adding to that with the real-time Snicko, which we think will add to the viewers' experience and also hopefully help in the decision-making process for umpires. It will change the DRS. Hopefully you won't get the mistakes." Umpiring and the DRS marred the Ashes series in England this year, with both players and officials losing confidence in the technology.

The experience has prompted some players to review their own support for the third-umpiring system in its current form. Australian captain Michael Clarke wrote in his just-released Ashes diary: "My opinion is that if the technology isn't perfect, it shouldn't be used at all. The inventor and owner of Hot Spot [Warren Brennan] came out and admitted it doesn't pick up all nicks. Ok, that's fine: Hot Spot should not be used until it is more reliable." All-rounder Shane Watson added his own views in an interview with Fairfax Media at the weekend. "To me, DRS is like dissent," Watson said. "You are saying, 'That's a bad decision, that's out.' And then you refer it. DRS came in for the one a player hacks on to his leg and it's given out LBW, or it's definitely pitched outside leg stump. "I don't agree with it because, one, I am horrendous at it, but two, because umpires are there to make decisions. And the decision is final. That's what you learn growing up, whether you are happy with it or not." Brennan has said that real-time Snicko, which provides far quicker audio of suspected edges than its predecessor, would iron out the shortcomings in Hot Spot, the thermal-imaging camera that came in for heavy criticism in England.

The real-time Snicko has been referred for independent testing by the ICC but it is unclear how much training the umpires appointed for the Ashes have done in using the new device. Discussions have been held among officials, raising questions about the wisdom of bringing it in for such a huge series and on Monday a final decision on its introduction had still not been relayed to the teams. However, Sutherland told Fairfax Media last week he was comfortable with the anticipated development. "I'm not nervous about it if the ICC have worked through the processes. I've seen a bit of real-time Snicko and I think it's a significant progression forward for, when it comes to decision-making, almost the trickiest part," Sutherland said. Nine, whose showing of last year's Boxing Day Test won the Association of International Broadcasting award for best live sport coverage last week, is upbeat about what it will add to its production as well as the DRS. "None of this stuff or the ball-tracking was built to be a decision-making option for the umpires," McNamara said. "It was always meant as a technology tool. But if they are using it, we hope that the real-time Snicko avoids the situation that we had in England. It will help the umpires."

The third umpire for the first Test is South Africa's Marais Erasmus.