Neutral Umpires to Return

[BGman]

The ICC has reinstated neutral umps for Tests starting in the upcoming season. I for one was pleased with home umps. Was great watching the likes of Bruce Oxenford, Blocker Wilson or Paul Reiffel doing their thing in front of home crowds over the past two years. I expect they got a thrill also as it was something they have not had the chance to do very often over their careers. Odd the cricket boss took this step as I for one dont recall any biased or controversial decisions causing blowups during matches in Australia.

 

[Seedsfan]

The ICC has reinstated neutral umps for Tests starting in the upcoming season. I for one was pleased with home umps. Was great watching the likes of Bruce Oxenford, Blocker Wilson or Paul Reiffel doing their thing in front of home crowds over the past two years. I expect they got a thrill also as it was something they have not had the chance to do very often over their careers. Odd the cricket boss took this step as I for one dont recall any biased or controversial decisions causing blowups during matches in Australia.

Just have one home one away. Then nobody can complain

 

[corbies]

The ICC has reinstated neutral umps for Tests starting in the upcoming season. I for one was pleased with home umps. Was great watching the likes of Bruce Oxenford, Blocker Wilson or Paul Reiffel doing their thing in front of home crowds over the past two years. I expect they got a thrill also as it was something they have not had the chance to do very often over their careers. Odd the cricket boss took this step as I for one dont recall any biased or controversial decisions causing blowups during matches in Australia.

There have been several blow-ups during matches most notably in the current South Africa v Bangladesh series.

Bangladesh to lodge formal complaint with ICC against Durban Test umpiring

Apart from some of the decisions, which the players didn't agree with, they felt the match officials didn't control the South Africans' sledging

www.espncricinfo.com

Not that I think there was much merit to the claims of bias but it just gave visiting teams an easy excuse.

They're also still allowing 1 umpire to be from the home country for Test matches. For white ball matches it can still be both umpires from the home country.

 

[frankrizzo]

Was a big talking point that english summer when windies toured as well, basically every bad call went against touring sides.

Lots of howlers in our recent series vs pakistan as well but people seem to have already forgotten that as they were quickly over turned and were against both sides so that was more a case of just plain low standard umpires than potential bias i guess.

 

[Gethelred]

There have been several blow-ups during matches most notably in the current South Africa v Bangladesh series.

Bangladesh to lodge formal complaint with ICC against Durban Test umpiring

Apart from some of the decisions, which the players didn't agree with, they felt the match officials didn't control the South Africans' sledging

www.espncricinfo.com

Not that I think there was much merit to the claims of bias but it just gave visiting teams an easy excuse.

They're also still allowing 1 umpire to be from the home country for Test matches. For white ball matches it can still be both umpires from the home country.

I'm rather biased against SA, so I'm trying to avoid just openly agreeing with the Bangladeshi players and captain here. Having said that, there's a bit of a difference in how cricket's being played worldwide now; Australia's trying to let their bowling do the talking, England are too s**t to get mouthy, and while India has learnt a fair bit from Waugh's Australia the language barrier serves as an impediment for excessive sledging.

SA are still playing cricket as though Michael Clarke is still around. They're bitchy about not being clearly the best side in world cricket, and they let their mouths run away with them, and I can see how to a side unused to touring SA could read their hostility in that manner.

Neutral umpiring solves the problem some, but the real issue is umpires who are unwilling to rock the boat to enforce the rules as stands. Archer bowling 5 ball bouncers at Steven Smith under dodgy light on an up/down deck in 2019 comes to mind.

Need umpires who are going to truly say, "You need to pull your heads in, or it's going to be test championship points, fines and suspensions."

 

[frankrizzo]

England are too s**t to get mouthy

they didnt say much in ashes but this england team are as mouthy as anybody in test cricket.

 

[Sammo360]

International Cricket Council

www.icc-cricket.com

I guess there's no need for the Elite Panel anymore.

 

[Electronic_Renaissance]

It's a real shame that Simon Taufel didn't feature in more Tests in Australia.

Three tests in Aus and that includes 1 of Aus vs World XI. His first two tests were in Australia but otherwise nothing. I assume this is when the neutral umpire thing came in. I'm going by CricInfo.

It's a bit of a blight on umpires at the highest level to suggest they would be biased. This isn't junior cricket where an umpire could have their kid playing.

Why not have neutral pitch curators? Now THAT would be interesting.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I'm not sure neutral umpires are necessary now they have the review system.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I'm not sure neutral umpires are necessary now they have the review system.

Umpire's call is key to that process, though - so I don't think I agree.

 

[Gethelred]

I'm not sure neutral umpires are necessary now they have the review system.

Do yourself a favour, and watch a replay of the first test back from Covid, between England and WI. There were 6 decisions from the first two days, from Illingworth and Kettleborough, all of which were wrong, all of which went against the away side. All were overturned.

Now, you can use this as an argument in favour of what you're saying; ie, that they took bias out of the game. But those two blokes are some of the best umps in the game, after a layoff of months without cricket, and they're making those decisions in a series that meant almost nothing; can you imagine what the response would've been had that happened in a series between India and England in England, or Aust-India in Australia, or either of us touring India?

There would be wholesale claims of cheating levied in all directions. Independent umpires curbs that claim. Sometimes, you need to play to the boors in the audience; putting the umps above the bounds of suspicion accomplishes this.