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Lack of lbw DRS may hurt England: Flower

July 27, 2011 13:37 IST

England cricket coach Andy Flower feels India's decision to disallow TV reviews of lbw decisions in the ongoing Test series could hamper England's chances of achieving the world number one ranking.

At Lord's on Monday, umpire Billy Bowden rejected lbw appeals by Stuart Broad against Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina but England couldn't challenge against the decisions due to India's reservations.

Andy FlowerThough England still went on to beat India by a massive 196 runs in the first Test, Flower feels the lack of lbw reviews decisions could cost his side in the long run.

"I'm actually slightly fearful it might hit us quite hard at some point," Flower was quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror.

"We almost saw it happen in this Test match.

"It would have been wrong if the outcome of the game was seriously affected by a couple of those decisions. It's unsatisfactory the way it is, no doubt about that," he added.

Flower was critical of ICC's failure to convince India on the use of DRS and said the governing body should deal with the issue more strongly.

"I think the ICC should be stronger in taking a lead on these issues -- they're the world governing body. I don't think it's unfair to say they haven't led on this topic.

"We all know that it is not going to be 100 per cent, but we also know you get more correct decisions using it."

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