Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Sean (arch) does, of course, but the posts on this thread have more to do with backing Emerson for taking a similar attitude to the one you mention, rather than the fact he takes it himself.
Emerson, for mine, was grossly at fault for doing his job improperly - it's not the Umpire's job to decide he knows better than science, it's the Umpire's job to accept that his eyes are not the be-all-and-end-all. He should never, ever no-ball a bowler who has been specifically cleared. Of course, the process of the time was shocking, the idea of no-balling a bowler on the basis of the human eye's suspicions woeful, so that at least was not his fault.
However, I will always feel Ranatunga was justified in taking the stand he took that day. No-balling someone in a game, especially when they've already been cleared, is messing with their career, nothing more. Everyone who held Muralitharan dear had every right to be absolutely incandescent.
Emerson, for mine, was grossly at fault for doing his job improperly - it's not the Umpire's job to decide he knows better than science, it's the Umpire's job to accept that his eyes are not the be-all-and-end-all. He should never, ever no-ball a bowler who has been specifically cleared. Of course, the process of the time was shocking, the idea of no-balling a bowler on the basis of the human eye's suspicions woeful, so that at least was not his fault.
However, I will always feel Ranatunga was justified in taking the stand he took that day. No-balling someone in a game, especially when they've already been cleared, is messing with their career, nothing more. Everyone who held Muralitharan dear had every right to be absolutely incandescent.