THE USE of technology to help umpires is a good way of going about it. But the selective use of technology, which only applies to matches in one part of the world and completely ignores whatever is going on elsewhere, is surely not the right way of going about it.
There is a series in Australia (vs Pakistan) that just ended where you had everything – from Hawkeye to Hot Spot – in place. Another one going on in South Africa (versus England), where Hot Spot is not available and another one going on in Bangladesh, which seems to be of nobody’s concern really. You also have ICC elite panel umpires making one gaffe after another and then you have match-referees going out of their way to back these error-prone umpires.
From what we are given to understand, the Hot Spot is a very expensive piece of equipment and there are only four such Hot Spot cameras available with the ICC and all of them are presently in use in Australia, leaving nothing for the South Africa series. And what about the Bangladesh series, one might be tempted to ask. Well, please don’t even mention that series, because somehow that doesn’t even exist.
You can be pardoned for believing that a cricket series is after all a cricket series and should be played under an identical set of rules applicable to all players. But that is not what the ICC seems to think. So, even a little feather of a touch onto Ponting’s glove is picked up by technology in Hobart and he is given out, but a loud nick onto Smith’s bat is not heard by third umpire Harper in Jo’burg because he does not deem it prudent to increase the volume of the feed to arrive at the correct decision. And whatever is going on in Bangladesh can simply keep going on… It’s a third world country anyway… So who cares? Least of all the ICC. Haven’t they already done enough by giving them Test status… Now you expect ICC to give them Hot Spot cameras as well… You might be crazy. Equal playing conditions and equal use of technology! Well, the ICC never heard of that one before.
But, surely the ICC is not short of funds and can get more Hot Spot cameras for everyone. But they might have to curb their profligate style a bit. After all, all of their people have to travel business class (or first class) to all parts of the world, have to stay in the best of hotels and have to throw lavish parties and all that… Hot Spot cameras can wait. And talking of elite panel umpires and match referees…They have been made into such a select coterie that it’s perhaps easier to play for the country than to get into this select list.
Harper is the same umpire, who once gave Sachin leg-before in Australia when he had ducked into a bouncer. Darrell Hair was largely responsible in exacerbating the crisis in the infamous Test match in England. Mark Benson chose to revolt against the URDS (because it exposed his incompetence) and then you had umpires in a World Cup final, who made a mockery of the contest and were unaware of the rules. Yet, the ICC continues to back them to the hilt.
Ok, umpires are human and can make errors. But the elite panel comprises just has a handful of umpires. So, today Asad Rauf is officiating in Napier, tomorrow the same umpire will have to fly to Sydney and after a few days he will be in Mirpur. The ICC is only compounding matters by keeping the group so short. Like players, the umpires too need a break in order to remain fresh. That way – though incompetent – they might make fewer mistakes. But here, to get into the elite panel, an umpire does not necessarily have to be good, but he should have the right connections. (Same is true in the case of match-referees. Someone like Madugalle – who is only good at PR – is ICC’s chief match-referee while the likes of Clive Lloyd and Jeff Crowe are just match-referees). The ICC should seriously get out of this elitist mode and try to have equal things in place for all participants. Otherwise, it’s undermining its own position.
