ICC might scrap neutral umpires system

[SachDan]

LONDON: The International Cricket Council might do away with the concept of neutral umpires by this year's Ashes as it feels the Decision Review System would clear the decks for officials to stand in matches featuring their home country. ICC President David Morgan has hinted that top umpires like Simon Taufel of Australia could get to stand in games featuring his home country very soon. "I think the progress with the DRS has been extremely good indeed, to the extent that I think we should be thinking about the best umpires being appointed to Test match cricket irrespective of whether they come from the participating teams or not," Morgan said. Taufel, the winner of ICC's Umpire of Year trophy for five of the past six years, has not stood in an Australia match since 2001. Five of the 12 umpires on the ICC's elite panel are from Australia and England, which leaves only seven neutral officials to choose from when the two countries meet. Morgan said scrapping the neutral system is a possibility which might come true by the Ashes. "I wouldn't put it any higher than a possibility but I think that in the fullness of time it's more probable than possible," Morgan said. DRS has so far evoked a mixed response among players and experts. Critics of the system feel it is not foolproof and undermines the umpire's authority. "I know that certain countries are very supportive and certain countries were wishing that it should happen even before DRS was thought about," Morgan said. Morgan said umpires would be supportive of the idea of scrapping the neutral system as they too would not want to spend too much time away from home. "If you think of the international cricket schedule, with the exception of Pakistan, all international cricketers play about half their cricket at home. International umpires stand in away games only. "That makes it a much more difficult lifestyle for them, to the extent that some very good umpires have declined appointment to the elite panel simply because they don't want to be away throughout the working schedule," he said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/ICC-might-scrap-neutral-umpires-system/articleshow/5471218.cms

[Online]

lol Aus need aus umpires to win matches now since Bucknor's retired

[PotterManiac]

:D

[yoda]

They should first make sure DRS is used consistently with all the available technology in every series before any more changes.

[Malcolm Merlyn]

BCCI wont allow it...so go suck it morgan

[I_India]

LONDON: Five of the 12 umpires on the ICC's elite panel are from Australia and England' date=' which leaves only seven neutral officials to choose from when the two countries meet.[/quote'] And what is wrong with that? You need 700 umpires or something?

[Ram]

Hmm, thats an interesting thought. But lets keep in mind, not every bad decision of an umpire can be over-turned. Decisions can be reviewed, only as long as a team has referrals left. What if a team is out of referrals and the umpire makes an error in the favor of the home side? But generally speaking, the concept of neutral umpires has removed a HUGE source of controversy from cricket matches. I think the ICC should persist with it, even if it means the best of the umpires cannot officiate in all matches.

[cowboysfan]

i support this decision IF the UDRS is uniformly implemented(by everbody in every match with atleast 2 hotspot cameras)

[Sachinism]

lol Aus need aus umpires to win matches now since Bucknor's retired

:phehehe:

[Gunner_Mania]

Hmm' date=' thats an interesting thought. [u']But lets keep in mind, not every bad decision of an umpire can be over-turned. Decisions can be reviewed, only as long as a team has referrals left. What if a team is out of referrals and the umpire makes an error in the favor of the home side? But generally speaking, the concept of neutral umpires has removed a HUGE source of controversy from cricket matches. I think the ICC should persist with it, even if it means the best of the umpires cannot officiate in all matches.

A very very valid point. Unless and untill UDRS is implemented in the same way in all series i.e. Hotspot, snicko and hawkeye they shouldn't even be thinking about this. Don't know if this is true but David Gower mentioned on Sky the other day that Hotspot couldn't be bought into India & Srilanka due to some Import/ export regulations. Any body know anything more about this?

[Mr. Wicket]

Good. I would really enjoy seeing a Simon Taufel stand in an Australia/India contest the next time (and I feel he's far less likely to **** up) rather than a "neutral" umpire like a Bowden or Bukhnaar. Either way, Shakoor Rana and friends are retired, so we no longer need a neutral system to keep some semblance of credibility in a game that those cheating ****ers tried to turn into a one-sided farce.

[Clarke]

Makes sense assuming UDRS is fully implemented.