Billy Bowden may be called in for Ashes Tests
SYDNEY, Nov. 9: Billy Bowden, the Kiwi with a penchant for
showmanship, is in the frame to fill the void left by Tony Hill.
Tony Hill, the New Zealand umpire who made a series of errors during
the Ashes series in England in the winter, is set to be sidelined from
on-ground officiating this summer in a move that has opened the door for
an Ashes return for the eccentric Billy Bowden.
Umpiring was a dominant theme for the wrong reasons during England's
3-0 win in the first leg of the back-to-back Ashes series as the men
overseeing proceedings made a succession of mistakes, and players and
officials lost confidence in the decision review technology. Despite the
controversy, the four umpires who stood in July and August appeared to
be automatic choices for the five Tests here as they are the only
members on the 12-man International Cricket Council elite panel who are
not Australian or English and therefore neutral.
However, Fairfax Media has learnt that 62-year-old Hill is expected
to be demoted when the Ashes appointments are announced next week. It is
likely that he will only feature in a third-umpire role and not in the
middle.
The other umpires from the series in England - South Africa's Marais
Erasmus, Kumar Dharmasena of Sri Lanka and Pakistan's Aleem Dar - will
all be in the contingent to officiate from the first Test at the Gabba
starting on November 21 but the shunting of Hill upstairs creates a
vacancy.
Bowden, the Kiwi with a penchant for showmanship, is in the frame to
fill the void by being called up from the second-tier international
panel.
The 50-year-old had stood in 75 Tests until June when he was dropped
from the elite group. Yet despite being relegated only five months ago
because of his own performance, Bowden could now be promoted to
cricket's signature event.Hill, who has been on the elite panel for
three years and officiated in 40 Tests, was far from the only umpire to
be guilty of a blunder in England this year but looks to have paid the
price for the error-riddled campaign.
The Auckland umpire had five decisions overturned by the DRS in that
series, more than any other official despite only standing in two Tests.
A low point came when he incorrectly gave Usman Khawaja out caught
behind in the third Test at Old Trafford - a mistake that was then
incomprehensibly ratified by television official Dharmasena.
Hill's case was also not helped by statistical evidence that showed
his decisions accounted for 20 of the 55 challenges in the series
despite only officiating at Manchester and Chester-le-Street. Erasmus,
meanwhile, stood in the same number of Tests but was challenged only six
times.
The limited number of umpires on the ICC elite panel eligible to
handle Tests between Australia and England led Cricket Australia chief
executive James Sutherland to indicate last month he would not be
against relaxing the rules on neutrality.
"When we play England, for example, I'd be really comfortable for an
Australian umpire and an England umpire to be standing at opposite ends
in a Test match," Sutherland said. "That said, I don't think it's the
perfect model."
|