“In the usual game of Cricket, it takes eleven to win a match..
only exception, in Australia, the home team needs thirteen to win a match and equal a record”
So disgusting was the game of Cricket when Australia beat India (as per records) in the recently concluded second test match at Sydney Cricket ground. I might be biased because I am an Indian by birth and origin (as per classification). Any sane person that watched the match would have simply rated the umpiring decisions as outrageous and unfit to meet the prescribed International Standards. What is more outrageous is the failure of the Umpires, Bucknor and Benson, to refer to the third Umpire and make some fantastic use of technology.
To err is human. It is understandable. With the provision of super slow replays and third Umpires, how come the field Umpires fail to make use of available technology? In what way would it diminish their presence? They still hold the authority on directing the usage of technology when in doubt.
Coupled to this is the highly unsportsmanlike behaviour of the Australian Cricket team. The Captain, Ricky Ponting, lead the team from front in this case as well, especially, the part that he played in the dismissal of Saurav Ganguly, and his own refusal to walk back to the Pavilion when he was caught behind. His comments as interpreted through the BBC Sports Website says:
“I’m not going to sit here and talk about umpiring decisions because if I do so I’ll find myself in hot waters”
Why would Ponting talk about Umpiring decisions? He can very well be diplomatic and walk off with a record as a Captain leading his team to an unlikely victory.
“Sure, they made few mistakes, but that is the game of Cricket”
Excuse me..is that a Professional Aussie sounding to be gracious in accepting flaws? Oh yeah, why not, because your team wasn’t on the receiving end.
It is quite a fact that the Umpires erred in their decisions. The Indian team bore the brunt while the Aussies took a minimal percentage of the bad decisions as well.
It is high time that the International Cricket Council (ICC) reconvenes and sets a high standard for its ICC elite panel of Umpires and a periodic evaluation of their decisions. This would force the Umpires to make use of available technology in case of a doubt. You got to be a super-human to stand all five days under the hot sun and come out with a clean record.