Umpiring Errors – Cricket Umpires Must Take Machinery Help

Growing numbers of umpiring blunders on cricket field is becoming a matter of great concern for the cricket lovers as well as for the people who are running the game. Umpires are feeling the heat more now a days especially because the entire concept of cricket has undergone a sea change. Gone are the halcyon days when cricket was a gentleman’s game and used to be played more for pleasure than for money. Umpiring blunders occurred even in those days. But those blunders were normally accepted sportingly as cases of human errors. Erring umpires used to be forgiven quickly and the matter forgotten. It was like that because not much was at stake in a cricket match.

Times have changed since then. Cricket is not more like a roaring business from which not only the 22 players involved in a match earn astronomical figures as their livelihood, but there are also scores of officials, TV. Channels, innumerable technicians, and famous companies of various products who are making money out of cricket. In short, the game of cricket has transformed into an industry. Naturally, when so much money is involved in the game, nothing can be left to chance. Vital umpiring decisions may make or mar a cricket match. They may help of ruin the career of a player. Thanks to science, it has invented machines to help the umpires in discharging their duties and minimize the chance of error. But strangely enough, cricket’s international body ICC is not in a hurry to make it mandatory for the umpires on the field to take the help of machines before giving their final decisions on each and every such occasions which has the slightest chance to be termed as “controversial”. The arguments, which are often offered in support of this stance of ICC, are that:

a) It will delay the proceedings of the game.

b) The age-old intuition of umpiring will lose its charm completely.

All such arguments are simply not tenable in modern cricket. People who are against the use of machines as a help to the on-field umpires, argue that test cricket has survived for over a century with the on-field umpires only in the matter where conducting the game smoothly is concerned. Therefore, there is no reason why machines should be dragged in between the umpires and their judgment.

But one feels that when there is a foolproof system available, why should anyone leave anything on chance. Granted that the international cricket conference [ICC] employs the best umpires of the world in the business. The few best umpires are grouped as “umpires of elite panel”. But they are also human beings. They may also some times err in their judgment. It is also granted that their errors in judgment are mere human failings, and not the result of any bias or in competency. But once the error is committed by the umpire, it is the player or his team has to pay for it, sometimes very dearly. Suppose a player is going through a bad patch in his career and the selectors give him one last match to prove himself. If unfortunately in the same match he becomes a victim of the wrong judgment by the umpire, what will happen? The player may be dumped into the cold storage forever. May be that will finish his cricket career then and there. The umpire will never be punished suitably for his crime. This practice has to come to an end once for all.

This is simply incomprehensible that when cases of doubtful run outs and stumping cases are referred to 3rd umpire by the on field umpires, why the cases of LBWs and close in catching can not be referred to the 3rd umpire who is far more better equipped with slow motion television replays of the case from various angles and for umpteen times too. It won’t be out of place to mention here that these two kinds of outs, viz. LBW and close in catching comprise almost 90% of the controversial decision given by umpires. Even the best of the umpires have sometimes or the other been criticized for giving controversial LBW and close in catching decision. It is, therefore, felt that it must be obligatory for the on field umpires to obtain machinery help before pronouncing their judgment in cases of LBW and close in catching.

Author: Subhash Dey
copyright: openarticlesubmission.com

Related posts:

1. Twenty20 world cup cricket championship – India makes history