There were also a few statesmen around in the manager’s offices, men who had values beyond their own self-interest.Some say that technology would be too time-consuming and expensive. In these areas, a fourth official wired to the man in the middle, would be the ultimate arbiter and if the whole process put, say, five minutes, on a game, who could legitimately complain if it meant that grotesque – and now routine – errors were eliminated? In the end it is not a matter of remaking the football future. It’s a bit like arguing against air traffic control.Of course, its installation would be have to performed with care and should involve only the three most vital aspects of diving, offside penalty decisions, and goal-line issues like the one at Old Trafford. Week in, week out that old aura of the referee is being systematically ravaged. Last weekend a vital shift in the balance of the Premiership race was cancelled when Mike Riley failed to see what any casual television observer was able to note without the benefit of a rerun – the Chelsea midfielder Tiago handled the ball in his own penalty area.When we argue against a role for technology we ignore the fact that match officials are scrutinised now as never before Pressures, and the pace of the game, have increased with both financial and physical evolution.When it was argued with some weight that the referee had always to be seen to be right cheating hadn’t passed from being an epidemic into an institution and his every error wasn’t instantly replayed across millions of television screens. Because the views of the referee and his assistants are the only ones that matter we were left with the travesty of a 0-0 scoreline. But if Spurs are the martyrs of the moment it is surely in a good cause.The injustice that enveloped them at Old Trafford was extreme and bizarre but if it is indeed true that a picture is worth a thousand words the one of United goalkeeper Roy Carroll escaping the consequences of fumbling the ball so far over his own line is unquestionably the most eloquent contribution to the debate so far.This was an utterly needless perversion of competitive truth and against it the old argument that the referee’s authority needs to be protected at all costs shrivels into absurdity.

Amla and De Villiers added a bit of momentum to the home team’s cause but both fell attempting to play the hook shot. South Africa lost 5 for 38 in this dire period of play but it had little to do with the skill of England’s bowlers, who spent more time aiming for the return crease than the stumps.. Yes says James Lawton, Chief Sports Writer

Yes says James Lawton, Chief Sports Writer
There was always going to be a time when the argument against providing technological assistance for football match officials was going to sound like something you might hear at a meeting of the Flat Earth Society.It came on Tuesday night when every television viewer knew something the officials in charge of Manchester United’s match with Tottenham at Old Trafford didn’t It was that Tottenham had scored a winning goal. South Africa, it is hoped, came out to bat looking for quick runs, but they failed to materialise.

Graeme Smith’s side, on 184 for 3, were already 462 runs ahead of England but they seemed to have little idea of how to hasten their run scoring.Boeta Dippenaar chipped the second ball of the day to Vaughan at mid-wicket and he was quickly joined in the South African dressing-room by Boje and Jacques Kallis, who foolishly ran themselves out. Two balls later Ntini gave Vaughan another bouncer but this time he chose to hook, hitting straight to Jacques Rudolph at deep square leg.Vaughan will defend his shot, saying that he wanted to play his natural game, but this was not the shot of a man who believed his side could save a Test match. It also meant that Vaughan has now scored only 220 runs in his last 11 Test innings.Having been set 501 to win, England lost Marcus Trescothick to the second ball of the innings. Smith should take great credit for the dismissal because many of us were wondering why he had placed Hashim Amla at short mid-off, 10 yards away from the bat. But amazingly Trescothick scooped a Pollock delivery straight into the fielder’s hands.Strauss and Key were building a useful partnership before Boje turned one out of the bowler’s foot-holes and trapped the England opener in front.Television replays indicated the ball had shaved Strauss’s bat before it struck him on the pad but it was easy to see why Steve Bucknor raised his finger.The fourth day began with a dreadful hour of cricket.