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| Sunday, 18 May 2003 |
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Rangiri Dambulla Stadium - one of the better grounds in Sri Lanka by RANJAN ANANDAPPA Australian cricket umpire Simon Toufel who is one of the umpires officiating in the on going triangular limited over cricket series involving hosts Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand, is of the view that the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium is one of the better grounds seen in Sri Lanka. The picturesque stadium has a great outfield. With more international matches played there, it should remain one of the fine grounds. "I would like to see more international matches been played there", Toufel said. Simon Toufel and his colleague Daryl Harper were invited by the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka to conduct a workshop for class one umpires in Sri Lanka and the topics were: How to handle pressure situations in a match, better concentration and planning prior to officiating in a match. Toufel said that most cricket umpires put themselves in a pressure situation due to their negative attitude and at times the lack of knowledge of the laws of cricket. Most umpires walk in fearing that they could make mistakes even before a ball has been bowled, or fearing a certain player, for some reason or having in mind a previous mistake. These negative thoughts could only make your task difficult. Toufel, the youngest umpire at 32 years in the elite panel said that umpiring is not merely counting six balls and giving decisions, but is a very much advance job than one thinks. "Committment", dedication and a thorough knowledge of the Laws of the game and the ability to manage people very well are the qualities of a good umpire. 'You need high quality decision-making these days as the stakes are high and lot more money is involved. So I think the umpires need to work harder in their games," said Toufel. "They need to practice more and be more dedicated to increase their performances. If they maintain a committment to these aspects they should be able to reduce the amount of pressure on them.""People get used to handling pressure in different ways, and that's the thing we have got to get used to these days. Good education trying skills should be able to reduce the pressue when they perform at a higher level more consistantly", Toufel said. Toufel said that he was totally against modern technology taking over decision making in a match. "We want to get the decisions right all the time, but I still like the bounce of the ball and the umpires decision still have a part in the game. The game should not be played by 'robots' and I don't like to see the game of cricket being umpired by 'robots' either, so the human element is very important. "The umpires will have to think about their own game a bit more whether they need to be able to perform a bit better and take off the pressure themselves and think more positively about their performance. Toufel added. |
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