Money coming into cricket has made umpires job more difficult

by A. C. De Silva

CRICKET: Gone are the days when cricketers firmly believed that the umpires decision was final. This game of gentlemen, had seen players adopting 'grin and bear' attitude towards rank bad decisions. Such decisions were discussed later on, but seldom disputed. It must be said that the 'men in white coat' of that era were really lucky.

But the situation has changed a lot now. A lot of money is involved in the game now. A victorious team might even obtain a bonus. So, the fear of being discarded for the next match, or even one-and-for-all in certain cases, has increased in certain bases, has increased in modern cricket. This seems to have a psychological effect on the players. So, all those disputes, coupled with ugly scenes on the field.

The fielding side indulging in prolonged wordy duels with the umpires and a batsman expressing his dissatisfaction over a decision, in a more stunning manner, all have become so common and frequent, that all those who are closely connected with the game feel that it was high time the old sentiments were restored.

Hard to digest

Some incidents are hard to digest, especially in one-day games, where every action can be termed as instintive, things may grow wrong. The run out decision was about the most tricky in these limited-over encounters. However, with the 'third umpire' manipulating on the T.V. Screen these days as the decisions are put to him by the field umpires, the umpires on the field have somewhat been a new lease of life. The LBW decisions are at most times disputed, then the run-out decisions are also these days put to the 'third umpire' and that move has somewhat lessend the problem for the umpire.

As if these tantrums are not enough, the T. V. replays have come to the assistance of the umpires.However, the camera may not be able to give a correct decision all the time. Take for example the camera that would 'shoot' the LBW or caught behind incident from the top or the other cameras down below may not be in a good angle to catch the vital incident. It may not be possible always to give the exact version. Even if you have the electronic gadget placed near the playing strip, how does one know whether the sound came off the impact between the ball and the pad, or the ball and the bat?

And here one must also remember that many modern batsmen, wear extra equipment like arm guard, thigh pads etc., so it becomes further impossible to detect. Better leave it to the man who is nearer to the area of action, than others.

The immediate need to ease the tension of the umpires, so as to bring certain amount of decency on the field is framing stringent rules to punish the erring player.

Players' role

When a batsman or a group of fielders misbehave, as a protest to an umpire's decision, the crowd is naturally provoked. A cricket crowd is well known for its exemplary behaviour, but when provoked it too can create a nasty atmosphere. Here the players can help a lot by their calm behaviour.Everyone will agree that an umpire can't be correct always. But the instinctive reaction by the 'affected' players would only spoil the atmosphere. At this moment it will be appropriate to single out an incident where former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar. In a Test in Bangalore against Imran Khan's Pakistan team, Gavaskar seemed to have got a bad decision. But the great man that was Gavaskar, walked back as if no injustice was done to him. No doubt, after the event was over, and nearly forgotten, he came out with his feeling. Gavaskar should be commended for his action. Had Gavaskar chosen to express his dissatisfaction on the field itself, there would have been some ugly scenes.

Experimental rule?

The rule makers of the game, can introduce the 'warning' or 'banning' system, to help players cool their temper.

If my memory is right, in India sometime back an experimental rule was introduced for the Indian domestic season, through which, the umpire was permitted to send back a misbehaving player to the pavilion never to return for that chosen session, it is worth experimenting that even in international cricket too.

Cricket is about the game where the relationship between the players and the umpires has always been healthy. But the happenings sometimes in modern cricket, threaten to strain that relationship, this should be stopped in the initial stages itself.