Bad umpiring not good for the game

THE EDITOR: The present tour of the Australian cricketers to the West Indies is already off to a bad and frustrating start for the West Indies. This is so because of the inept umpiring of the ICC-appointed pair of umpires of South Africa’s Rudi Koertzen and Sri Lanka’s Asoka de Silva.

Mr Rudi Koertzen started the ball rolling, when he gave young Devon Smith lbw to a ball from Brett Lee which got a thick inside edge and sent the young Grenadian walking back to the pavilion for 3, on his debut test. As if this was not enough, the Sri Lankan then joined in with a number of bad decisions, which clearly hurt the West Indies or put them in a hole. He seemed to be trying to do like our own Steve Bucknor of Jamaica, who hesitates a while and gets it correct, this is so because I believe that Mr Bucknor seems to possess a photographic memory and gets his decisions spot on, but Mr de Silva just seems to stand there, before giving his decision which is not good for the game at the highest level.

Victims of Asoka de Silva’s work were Brian Lara lbw to Bichel for 26, when the Trinidadian was on the go, Shivnarine Chanderpaul lbw to Bichel for 100, Mervyn Dillon lbw to MacGill for 20 and Wavell Hinds lbw to MacGill for 7 in the second innings of that Bourda test. The ICC should try to put its house in order. It is not easy to just simply look on at good batsmen being given bad decisions, which alter or change the direction of the game, particularly when you are up against a strong team like Australia.

HUGH CUFFEY
Cascade