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Bacher calls for report on umpiring

United Cricket Board of South Africa chief Dr Ali Bacher has called for a comprehensive report on the umpiring during the just concluded England-South Africa series, from his captain Hansie Cronje.

"There is a major umpiring problem in world cricket and it needs to be sorted out," said Bacher, in the aftermath of a series in which, especially in the last two Tests, England victories were marred by extremely controversial decisions.

The confusion began in Trent Bridge, when an appeal against Michael Atherton for caught behind off Allan Donald was turned down, though the England batsman had clearly gloved the ball. He was 27 not out at the time, and went on to make a century that swung the match England's way.

An incensed Allan Donald abused the player repeatedly, subjected him to a barrage of fast bowling at its most hostile and, subsequently, criticised the umpiring in a radio interview. The pace bowler was fined, and given a suspended one match sentence, for this.

Then came the series decider, at Headingley, and ICC umpire Javed Akthar had a nightmare match. His form hit an all time low in the fourth innings of the match when, with South Africa needing 219 to win, he gave as many as four, possibly five, doubtful decisions -- and the margin of victory was only 23, which underlines how crucial those lapses were.

"I have spoken to Hansie about the situation and, obviously, like all the other Test captains, his tongue is tied," said Bacher. "I asked him, irrespective of the result of the last Test, to submit a report to the UCB outlining what he perceives the problems to be after a series of very bad umpiring decisions. "He will put it down in black and white, unemotionally, and give the report to us (UCBSA) and allow us to handle it from there. Obviously there is a major problem, and it is not in the interests of world cricket to have it there. We must sort it out."

The South African captain was understandably circumspect. "Decisions go for you and against you, and sometimes you feel like they go more against you than for you," he said. "Ali (Bacher) can talk about the umpiring, because he doesn't have a match fee to lose," he added, while refusing to directly comment about the umpiring. "I'll put my thoughts in the report."

Bacher for his part was unsparing of Javed Akthar, the Delhi-born Pakistan umpire whose only Test as a national player, incidentally, was in England, at Leeds in 1962.

"One prominent former England player told me that Headingley is an especially difficult wicket to play on and officiate on because of it's up and down nature," said Bacher. "It was wrong to get a chap in from the subcontinent for his first ever game in England, and a crucial Test match, and put him at Headingley."

How wrong it was, is indicated by replays which show that of the nine batsmen he dismissed, at least 7 were dubious, five of them very clearly not out.

The incident throws light on ineptitude on the part of the International Cricket Council, and a lacuna in its laws.

The ICC's panel of international umpires was put in place in 1994. Right up, the scheme was flawed, because it left the selection of umpires to the various member countries, asking each country to nominate umpires for the panel and taking what was offered.

Each country was limited to four umpires. England alone has the full complement, while all other Test playing nations have two apiece.

Critics had, from day one, insisted that a better system would be for the ICC to independently monitor the performance of various umpires and select strictly on merit.

The ICC then compounded the error with an overly protectionist attitude towards umpiring lapses. Thus, while the code of conduct came down heavily on players who dared to criticise umpiring decisions, it kept the umpires out of the ambit of official scrutiny. While the match referee, thus, comments about everything -- player conduct, ground conditions, the works -- in his post-match report to the ICC, the performance of umpires is out of his purview: a system that, by not penalising ineptitude, perpetuates it.

Even with these drawbacks, the system would work reasonably well given a certain measure of logic in the selection of umpires for a series. However, here again, the entire procedure is ad hoc -- thus, instead of naming a neutral umpire or umpires to stand for a series, the current system permits them to be chopped and changed, at will, by the host nation.

Akthar -- who, if there were performance reports for umpires, would not have figured in the international panel in any case, given his shoddy performance in the past -- thus found himself flown to England less than a week ahead of the series-deciding Headingley Test.

It is never easy to umpire at the highest level. Standing in England is said, by the doyens in the field, to be especially hard. And Akthar went into the high pressure match cold, with no time to 'play himself in', as it were, by standing in a county game or two. His only 'warm up' for the big one was a picnic, when he officiated in a three-day game involving the Middlesex and Nottinghamshire second strings.

ICC operations manager Clive Hitchcock has defended the system, saying that official policy is to give an umpire, out of season, one or two games before a Test, in order to acclimatise himself. "The umpires are happy with this arrangement," says Hitchcock.

Critics, however, point out that the umpires' "happiness" is not the issue, nor can it be the ultimate goal -- which is, and should remain, as fair a contest as possible, and, equally importantly, as free of umpiring errors as possible.

This feeling -- growing rapidly in recent times, thanks to the increased use of TV replays which highlight every single error of the two officials out in the middle -- has in fact sparked a call, in cricketing circles and in the media, for greater powers to the third umpire (see related story, below).

And it is these factors that have sparked the present controversy, and which are expected to figure in Cronje's report.

It is also believed that another long-standing grouse of international captains will also receive an airing in that report: namely, the right to point out umpiring errors in the report they submit at the end of each Test or ODI. For now, given the stringent code of conduct, captains tend to wax diplomatic when asked about even the most glaring umpiring error.

Related story:
The omniscient eye

Check out the Discussion Group, to see what readers have to say on the subject of greater powers for the third umpire.