Delegates at the International Cricket Council's cricket-committee meeting in Cape Town have decided to give more power to the third umpire. As an experiment during this year's expanded ICC Champions Trophy (the former ICC Knockout competition), the onfield umpires will be able to call upon their TV-watching colleague to examine any aspect of a decision, in an attempt to test the extended use of television technology - and its accuracy. Consultation will be optional, but when called for decisions must be reached as soon as possible. In an attempt to reduce delays to play, the third official will be allowed only two replays of any incident before passing on information to the onfield umpires. Line decisions, hit-wicket and boundary referrals will continue to be decided by the TV umpire, as under the present system.

"Technology is an emotive issue, with persuasive voices on both sides of the debate," ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said.

"By agreeing to a limited but high-profile trial, we will be better placed to judge if greater use of technology is the way to go in the long term."

ICC announced that the tournament itself would be held in Sri Lanka, between September 12 and 30 this year. The trophy, which replaces the ICC knockout (won last time by New Zealand), is a one-day competition featuring all 10 Test-playing nations, as well as Kenya and Holland. It will be held every two years henceforth, with prize funds totalling $US1.15million. The winners will take away a cheque for $US525,000 if they win all their matches.

Speed said: "The ICC is delighted that the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka has agreed to act as host country for this major event."

The event has a new format, with four pools of three teams, rather than the straight knockout basis of its predecessors. Each side will play two pool games, followed by semi-finals between the winners of Pool 2 and Pool 3, and Pool 1 and Pool 4.

The pools are as follows:

Pool One Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand
Pool Two England, India, Zimbabwe
Pool Three Kenya, South Africa, West Indies
Pool Four Holland, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Delegates also decided that bonus points should continue to be awarded in one-day tournaments involving three or more teams. However, incidents which highlighted abuse of the system in the recent VB Series in Australia are to be reviewed by ICC. A decision on the continuing use of bonus points will be made before the tournament in Sri Lanka.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd