Never before have the stakes been so high in cricket! More prize money than even the ICC cricket World Cup offers, more money paid to players for 40 days then they would earn in the entire season for their national side.

The IPL and many other Twenty20 tournaments in every country have taken cricket to a new level. And now, with teams being treated as companies complete with a CEO et al, it is only natural that apart from the players, the focus had to come on the other men who matter on the field – the umpires.

Umpires have, sadly, been reduced to powerless figures on the field. With the amount of pressure on them, no one wants to take any chances: even the run out appeals, where the batsman is comfortably home, are being referred upstairs.

'With every retiring cricketer either turning towards coaching or towards broadcasting, the ICC is losing out on a lot of rich cricketing experience'


Why are the umpires feeling the heat? Firstly, the ICC futures programme is fully packed with test matches and one day matches happening all over the place and, - to add to the already hectic schedule – the new IPL mania. But the most ridiculous part is that the ICC Elite panel of umpires has only 12 umpires.

With 12 umpires shuttling all over the world, standing and covering every Test match, and with at least one ICC umpire in every ODI, it is only a matter of time before the taxing schedule gets to the umpires as well. With no umpires from three Test playing nations,  including India, isn’t it time the ICC seriously took steps to widen this panel so that the itinerary of the umpires is a little more relaxed?      

The ICC must make officiating a lucrative career option for ex cricketers. With every retiring cricketer either turning towards coaching or towards broadcasting, the ICC is losing out on a lot of rich cricketing experience. And players will think twice before trying to intimidate umpires who are ex players themselves.

The outlook towards umpires amongst players has to change. Players tend to get away with murder on the field and later on in the match referee’s cabin – armed with the support of super rich cricket boards, a battery of suave, smooth talking lawyers, they walk away with mild punishments.

Matters on the field should be decided on the field – perhaps only then will the players respect the umpires. If need be, the ICC must think about implementing a rule on the lines of ‘yellow cards/red cards’ in cricket as well.

But the biggest mistake ever made by the ICC, which has put intense amount of pressure on umpires world wide, is the handling of umpire Steve Bucknor during the Indian tour of Australia. While there is no doubt that the umpiring standards were not up to the mark, undermining an umpire’s credentials by preventing him from standing in the next Test, simply because BCCI had managed to arm twist the ICC, is utterly unacceptable. How can umpires feel secure when one bad match can make the ICC short change you?

The question of referring LBW decisions to the third umpire is completely out of order. Having failed miserably in the experimentation stage – the ICC has shelved all such plans and hence leg before shouts will be decided only on the field.

Now, LBW appeals happen within the space of a second.  In that span of a second the umpire has to assess numerous factors before deciding if the batsman is out or not.

Television viewers have the luxury of seeing a simulation of the ball from numerous angles with the help of computer software which can predict swing and spin. But the on-field umpire can have just one chance to make the right decision.

Batsman will tell you that all it takes is a momentary lapse in concentration to get you out. So, aren’t umpires human? While they do get most of their decisions right, aren’t they liable to have a bad day?

Batsmen have to stop behaving like cry babies. No batsman is a walker in international cricket today. Just as a player is bound to get lucky and be adjudged not out after nicking, he must take a bad decision in his stride too.

There is no doubt that the current scenario is far from ideal and the umpires are under too much pressure when it comes to deciding close calls. Fewer games per umpire, ridding the Elite Panel of all interference by the ICC and if the ICC thinks this would give too much power to the umpire – introduce the ‘challenge’ rule borrowed from tennis for questionable catches.

What this calls for is a radical change in the game. Cricket is a game first, entertainment next and a business last. Just as in a democratic country, the judiciary is independent of the parliament, so too in cricket must the umpires be allowed to take decisions knowing that whatever their judgment may be, their job and their respect are intact.

Because only when such conditions prevail, can umpires perform optimally and accurately.