High time ICC have a check on the umpires

[biased indian]

This year alone there has been far too many mistakes made by the umpires in the game.they are now a dyas makeing more mistakes than correct decision.just look at the last two matches
inzamam,youhan where at the receving end at multan and both of them benifitted at lahore.in the W.I vs england series also there was a lot of mistakes made.

Clearly icc should do something to check the mistakes made by umpires or other wise the game will be decided by the poor decision made by the umpires rather than good play by the players.

 

[Swervy]

'bad' decisions have always been made...but we now have the tools to analyse the decisions endlessly.

I think its time to get over it,umpires are humans and have to make split second judgements...more often than not, they make the correct decision

 

[biased indian]

'bad' decisions have always been made...but we now have the tools to analyse the decisions endlessly.

I think its time to get over it,umpires are humans and have to make split second judgements...more often than not, they make the correct decision

point accepted the bad decisions are part of the game. but in recent past the number of bad decision by the umpires have been on the rise and that is not a good trend

 

[Swervy]

point accepted the bad decisions are part of the game. but in recent past the number of bad decision by the umpires have been on the rise and that is not a good trend

do you have proof that the number of bad decisions is on the rise?

 

[biased indian]

do you have proof that the number of bad decisions is on the rise?

i guess u dont watch international cricket that often just have a look at the games played in 2004 alone

in the 2 test matches played between india and pakistan their were atleast 6 bad decision

 

[Swervy]

i guess u dont watch international cricket that often just have a look at the games played in 2004 alone

in the 2 test matches played between india and pakistan their were atleast 6 bad decision

so in actual fact you are basing your opinion on 2 tests...hardly constitutes a trend.

My point is,it is impossible to figure out whether there are more bad decisions now than in the past.

To Fan A, and LBW decision might be wrong if given not out
Fan B might think there is enough doubt to given the benefit of that doubt to the batsman.

30years ago,you might have got a slow motion replay of the ball,but from a bad angle or even behind the batsman, so no-one could really judge whether the decision was right or not.

It seems as though bad decisions are on the rise,but in reality they probably arent

 

[luckyeddie]

Today's match a classic case in point - Imran and Gavaskar in the Sky studio, discussing all of the appeals. Their conclusion? None of them (the lbws) were 'bad' decisions, but Taufel got a caught behind wrong.

Now if two paragons of the game, one from each country, can agree that they were not plumb but debatable, I guess you would think that fans would follow their lead.

But no. Hell fire. The umpires have a difficult enough job as it is without the pressure Joe and Ranjit Public put on them. If you think I'm always taking the side of the umpires, you are dead right - and I have good reason to. A good friend of mine from the past was hounded out of test umpiring by ridiculous accusations.

 

[Swervy]

Today's match a classic case in point - Imran and Gavaskar in the Sky studio, discussing all of the appeals. Their conclusion? None of them (the lbws) were 'bad' decisions, but Taufel got a caught behind wrong.

Now if two paragons of the game, one from each country, can agree that they were not plumb but debatable, I guess you would think that fans would follow their lead.

But no. Hell fire. The umpires have a difficult enough job as it is without the pressure Joe and Ranjit Public put on them. If you think I'm always taking the side of the umpires, you are dead right - and I have good reason to. A good friend of mine from the past was hounded out of test umpiring by ridiculous accusations.

was he 'CONSTANT'-ly hounded?

 

[Langeveldt]

Nah these guys have a hell of a hard job.. if you dont believe it then go and umpire in a club match where there is a bit of needle...

I know these guys are professionals and they are paid, but its incredibly hard... And what goes around comes around, the luck evens itself out eventually...

 

[Newlands]

Its easy to say that umpires are making too many bad decisions when you are sitting at home with the benefit of replays, hawkeye and this new ultra something. Umpires can't spend four hours making a decision and discussing it with other people. He must make it on the spot and yes, he is going to make the odd mistake. Remember, some of these balls are coming down at 85/90 mph. Think you could take a car plate as it zooms past you at that speed?
Generally, the umpires do a good job. They are much respected in the game and have the benefit of years of experience behind them.
Do you think they feel delighted when they look up at the big screen and see a replay only to realise that they've made a mistake?

 

[biased indian]

Nah these guys have a hell of a hard job.. if you dont believe it then go and umpire in a club match where there is a bit of needle...

I know these guys are professionals and they are paid, but its incredibly hard... And what goes around comes around, the luck evens itself out eventually...

But it doesnt mean that we should try to have the best man possible for the job. some of them are not performing to their earlier standerd

 

[biased indian]

i am not saying about LBW its been 50:50 all the time
but missing edges is not a good thing

 

[Langeveldt]

But it doesnt mean that we should try to have the best man possible for the job. some of them are not performing to their earlier standerd

Judging the ability of an umpire is extremely hard though...

In my mind there are some brilliant ones (Simon Taufel and Venkat immediately spring to mind) and then you get BC Cooray and Asoka De Silva...

Well the latter shouldnt really be officiating, but if the others are busy elsewhere, then unfortunatly they have to stand in...

Add to that the fact that umpires have form swings just like players....

 

[marc71178]

This year alone there has been far too many mistakes made by the umpires in the game.they are now a dyas makeing more mistakes than correct decision.

Utter rubbish - there are far more correct decisions than wrong ones.

in the W.I vs england series also there was a lot of mistakes made.

Were there - I can't say I remember too many glaringly obvious ones.

inzamam,youhan where at the receving end at multan

Now we come to why this was posted - I find it strange you didn't post it when the 2 of them were sawn off...

 

[marc71178]

But it doesnt mean that we should try to have the best man possible for the job. some of them are not performing to their earlier standerd

So please tell who you promote to the elite panel then, and who you'd drop from it?

 

[marc71178]

i am not saying about LBW its been 50:50 all the time

I don't understand what you're saying here - can you explain?

but missing edges is not a good thing

No, but these things happen - occasionally they're missed and cause a man to be given LBW.

Umpires are only human, and if they cannot see an edge because it is too fine, I won't blame them - 22 yards (+) is a long distance to judge such small deviations.

 

[Lions81]

So please tell who you promote to the elite panel then, and who you'd drop from it?

So because there are no known alternatives, we must stick with the status quo? Surely there are people who would love to be umpires and would work their tails off to become elite umpires. The fact that the ICC in effect has a quota on the elite umpire panel discourages open competition. Umpires are replaced on an irregular basis, so they feel less pressure to play correctly. I think if Steve Bucknor were a member of a playing side, he would have been dropped long ago. If cricketers don't respect an umpire out there, perhaps one should take a long, hard look at the umpire. Is it more likely that an entire team and their managements are obnoxious whiners, or that one old, tired umpire is making mistakes repeatedly?

I think Koch cha's point is a fair one. Who cares if bad decisions have "always been a part of the game". They shouldn't have been there in the first place, and now we have the technology to make sure they are not. Umpires have a very hard job, and they should be given respect by cricketers and fans alike, but let us ease the burdens on their job by making modern technology available to them.

One example from contemporary sports is replays in American football. It only started a couple of years ago, and already it has led to many incorrect decisions being reversed. Of course some have argued that incorrect decisions are part and parcel of the game and so must be taken with the correct ones, but on what grounds can that be considered a good argument? Decisions should be correct 100% of the time. No one is suggesting making robots who can be umpires, but if an umpire has some doubt about a LBW appeal or a caught-behind, by all means, let them refer it to hawkeye, or to the snick-o-meter/ultracam, or to the TV umpire. One might say, well then won't they feel the pressure to refer every call? No, some decisions are simple, and if the umpire is at all unsure, shouldn't they do their best to make their minds up correctly?

Let's not embrace the problems of past cricket and try to perfect our game as much as possible.

 

[Langeveldt]

So because there are no known alternatives, we must stick with the status quo? Surely there are people who would love to be umpires and would work their tails off to become elite umpires. The fact that the ICC in effect has a quota on the elite umpire panel discourages open competition. Umpires are replaced on an irregular basis, so they feel less pressure to play correctly. I think if Steve Bucknor were a member of a playing side, he would have been dropped long ago. If cricketers don't respect an umpire out there, perhaps one should take a long, hard look at the umpire. Is it more likely that an entire team and their managements are obnoxious whiners, or that one old, tired umpire is making mistakes repeatedly?

I think Koch cha's point is a fair one. Who cares if bad decisions have "always been a part of the game". They shouldn't have been there in the first place, and now we have the technology to make sure they are not. Umpires have a very hard job, and they should be given respect by cricketers and fans alike, but let us ease the burdens on their job by making modern technology available to them.

One example from contemporary sports is replays in American football. It only started a couple of years ago, and already it has led to many incorrect decisions being reversed. Of course some have argued that incorrect decisions are part and parcel of the game and so must be taken with the correct ones, but on what grounds can that be considered a good argument? Decisions should be correct 100% of the time. No one is suggesting making robots who can be umpires, but if an umpire has some doubt about a LBW appeal or a caught-behind, by all means, let them refer it to hawkeye, or to the snick-o-meter/ultracam, or to the TV umpire. One might say, well then won't they feel the pressure to refer every call? No, some decisions are simple, and if the umpire is at all unsure, shouldn't they do their best to make their minds up correctly?

Let's not embrace the problems of past cricket and try to perfect our game as much as possible.

Great post.... However umpires very rarely give run out calls on there own when 3rd ump is about... is that what we want for everything? I think it would get like that...

 

[marc71178]

So because there are no known alternatives, we must stick with the status quo? Surely there are people who would love to be umpires and would work their tails off to become elite umpires.

If there were good umpires coming through, they'd be put in there, but I note that at least 2 have elected not to go on the panel because of the work involved.

And it's all well and good saying that there's people who would work hard to become elite umpires, but how does that solve the alleged current problem?

 

[Lions81]

If there were good umpires coming through, they'd be put in there, but I note that at least 2 have elected not to go on the panel because of the work involved.

And it's all well and good saying that there's people who would work hard to become elite umpires, but how does that solve the alleged current problem?

Yes, the immediate problem can't be solved in the timeframe available. But that doesn't mean we should ignore the problem!

And Langeveldt, you bring up a good point. I forgot to consider that.