Umpiring standards in Pakistan during the 70's and the 80's

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Alright, since I missed those eras, I have no other option but to seek informations from the more knowledgeable fans on the topic. It's no secret that Pakistani umpires were notorious during the 70's and the 80's for being bluntly biased towards their home side. Anyone with any doubts should read Steve Waugh's autobiography where he speaks of how Pakistani umpires used to blatantly give biased decisions in favor of thier home team at that time. Ian Chappell recently wrote an article where he says that Javed Miandad once admitted to him that Pakistan had a poor record away from home because of the favors they enjoyed at home from the umpires. There also have been talks from players about how Pakistani bowlers used to tamper with the ball blatantly in Pakistan, and the umpires used to do nothing about it. Have you ever wondered why Javed Miandad, despite being the one with the second highest average among his contemporaries, is never, ever mentioned in the same breath as Viv, Sunny, Chappell and Border? Look at the top 25 cricketers in ESPN Legends of Cricket, all of Miandad's contemporaries find a place in the list except him. Bisect his average and you'll find that he averages 60 odd at home and 45 odd away from home. Most of us know the secret behind that average of 60 at home. My question to you fans who followed cricket during those times, and those who have knowledge about that matter - How far did the unhealthy practice go? What are your experiences regarding this issue?

[vvvslaxman]

Umpiring was shambolic in Pakistan. Also ball tampering was prevalent in Pakistan. Worst was 1982/83 series against India. By all accounts every team had to play against 13 players.

[Sir john]

those are bad days.

[Shakthi]

Pak umpires were the worst umpires back in those days remember Shakoor rana who gave wrong decisions.

[saneindian]

I think there is this myth that Miandad never got out LBW playing at home. He was out LBW 8times between 85-93 while playing at home. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/40879.html?class=1;dismissal=3;home_or_away=1;template=results;type=batting;view=dismissal_list Maybe during the late 70s and early 80s he was immune to LBWs from home umpires. Also, another interesting thing is, during the 1979 series in India, he got LBW in some 6-7 innings!! So in a way it all evened out at the end :--D

[Bublu Bhuyan]

^^ That guy is the most undeserving batsman to have ever averaged 50 or more. He was literary gifted an average of more than 50.

[vvvslaxman]

I think there is this myth that Miandad never got out LBW playing at home. He was out LBW 8times between 85-93 while playing at home. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/40879.html?class=1;dismissal=3;home_or_away=1;template=results;type=batting;view=dismissal_list Maybe during the late 70s and early 80s he was immune to LBWs from home umpires. Also, another interesting thing is, during the 1979 series in India, he got LBW in some 6-7 innings!! So in a way it all evened out at the end :--D

uh.. you know how many times he was not given out

[siddhu]

I think there is this myth that Miandad never got out LBW playing at home. He was out LBW 8times between 85-93 while playing at home. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/40879.html?class=1;dismissal=3;home_or_away=1;template=results;type=batting;view=dismissal_list Maybe during the late 70s and early 80s he was immune to LBWs from home umpires. Also, another interesting thing is, during the 1979 series in India, he got LBW in some 6-7 innings!! So in a way it all evened out at the end :--D

His career started in 1976 and the first time he was given out LBW was in 1985. Do the math...

[ZodiaC]

His career started in 1976 and the first time he was given out LBW was in 1985. Do the math...

:omg:

[Bublu Bhuyan]

His career started in 1976 and the first time he was given out LBW was in 1985. Do the math...

Goodness!

[Mamu]

I think there is this myth that Miandad never got out LBW playing at home. He was out LBW 8times between 85-93 while playing at home. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/40879.html?class=1;dismissal=3;home_or_away=1;template=results;type=batting;view=dismissal_list Maybe during the late 70s and early 80s he was immune to LBWs from home umpires. Also, another interesting thing is, during the 1979 series in India, he got LBW in some 6-7 innings!! So in a way it all evened out at the end :--D

If I am not wrong Miandad was out LBW some 3 or may be 4 times at home. But abroad he was out LBW close to 20% of times , let us just say even if 5% of those were bad decisions abroad, being out 15% of times tells me he is quite prone to Pad Before Wicket. Another things is the wide difference in his Home and Away average. 60 Plus Vs 45. Only thing he played some really good bowlers around in the world, so 45 is quite respectable, but no he wouldnt be in my World Top 10 batsmen !

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Mamu]

His career started in 1976 and the first time he was given out LBW was in 1985. Do the math...

Paki Umpiring was atrocious between 75 and 83-84. It was absoultely abysmal. Only after 85 when Pak had a decently good team did Pakis change, realizing that they did not really need umpires help -- as they had a decently good team and umpires were actually giving them a bad name.

[Mamu]

Read this : http://indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=988417&postcount=66

Didn't Miandad himself mention somewhere -- that one of the reasons why Paki batsmen are so bad now, is because the umpires helped them a lot during his days and since the advent of neutral umpires they have not been getting any favors.

[nballa]

it was beyond atrocious, in fact the umpires had to bring the icc rulebook with them when they came out while officiating such was their knowledge about the game. they used to refer to the book during tricky situations like two runners stranded at the same wicket, hit wickets, caught and bowled, handling the balls (inzy still doesn't know the rules) etc etc.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[siddhu]

it was beyond atrocious' date=' in fact the umpires had to bring the icc rulebook with them when they came out while officiating such was their knowledge about the game. they used to refer to the book during tricky situations like two runners stranded at the same wicket, hit wickets, caught and bowled, handling the balls (inzy still doesn't know the rules) etc etc.[/quote'] and their players still don't know the rules.. Afridi pitch dancing, ball-biting. Amir.. match fixing (or spot fixing). Akhtar, Asif.. never mind. You get the picture.

[Raghav_12]

He was out LBW for total 8 timesat home (25 away ) and 5 of them came in last 5 years of his cricket, when spread of TV made it very difficult to not give plumb decisions. Also, even in these 8, most of these LBW's were given in relatively low-stake matches like 2 were given when ZIM toured Pakistan in early 90's. I recall reading one article in Cricket Samrat magazine (don't know how many of you even heard of this Hindi cricket magazine) in my early childhood around 89-90. Article was on Australia's tour to Pakistan. In that article author had openly mocked Australian players on their cricket knowledge (or lack of it) because on that tour they were appealing for LBW decisions against Miandad. His statement was that if Australians had done some homework then they would have known futility of their exercise (appealing for LBW against Miandad). I think by that time Miandad was given out LBW at home only 3-4 times and he had already played some 13- 14 years of international cricket. Practice of Pakistani umpires of blatant biased decisions (including Rana-Gatting incident) can be considered one of the main reasons which brought concept of neutral umpires in test cricket so they deserve some credit for that :winky:

[kumble_rocks]

I remember Maninder Singh in an interview saying that Pakistani umpire asked him - "why are you bothering to appeal for LBW , you will never get it ". The so called great all rounder Imran was a big beneficiary of the pathetic umpring and ball tampering during the 82'-83 series. As soon as he toured India in 1987 , he was sorted out by Cheeka and others.

[Raghav_12]

If I am not wrong Miandad was out LBW some 3 or may be 4 times at home. But abroad he was out LBW close to 20% of times , let us just say even if 5% of those were bad decisions abroad, being out 15% of times tells me he is quite prone to Pad Before Wicket. Another things is the wide difference in his Home and Away average. 60 Plus Vs 45. Only thing he played some really good bowlers around in the world, so 45 is quite respectable, but no he wouldnt be in my World Top 10 batsmen ![/QUOTE] His away average of 45 is also boosted by higher averages in India (around 50) and in NZ (around 70). Against WI, his career average is below 30 while he averaged 33 for the matches played in WI. For matches played in Australia he averaged 38. He was good but probably wasn't good enough to have an average of 52.5 in that era.