JEDDAH, 1 November 2006 — Umpires are the sole judges of a match and any of their decisions must be respected by the players, according to veteran international Test umpire Khizer Hayat of Pakistan.

“When one umpire makes a decision, it is construed as a joint decision of the two umpires in the field and so should never be disputed,” Hayat told a press conference before he addressed an umpiring seminar organized by the Jeddah Cricket League (JCL) here last night.

JCL President Shahid Amin presided over the meeting, which was attended by a large number of players, umpires and cricket enthusiasts.

Hayat, replying to a question on the recent Oval Test between England and Pakistan in which ball-tampering charges were leveled against Pakistan, quoted a golden rule of the game, which says that it is the captain’s responsibility to identify the player who is the culprit.

“If the captain fails to do that then it becomes the sole responsibility of the captain and he has to face the charge,” said Hayat who published an umpiring manual last year and freely distributed it among the players, umpires and cricket officials.

“Umpires do make mistakes, but the best is one who makes the least,” he said, adding that only those who are fully conversant with cricketing laws can become top quality umpires.

With 50 years of experience in the gentleman’s game, he said he enjoyed every moment as a player, a selector and an umpire.

He paid tribute to JCL’s chairman Zainal Alireza and president Shahid Amin for their pioneering roles in promoting cricket since 1976 and said he was aware of the quality of the game conducted by the JCL. He said he had been occasionally visiting the Kingdom and had an opportunity to interact with Shahid Amin’s father Mohammed Amin.

“In fact, I played with Mohammed Amin a lot of cricket.”

“However, Kuwait and Sharjah had stolen a march over the Kingdom in promoting the game and staging international events,” he said emphasizing that any game can be promoted with the participation of native players, which is the case with Kuwait and Sharjah.”

He hinted that the players in the Kingdom are mostly from the expatriate community and young Saudis need to be increasingly involved in the game.

Speaking at the well attended seminar, Hayat stressed that umpires must be aware of laws of cricket. “The umpire must enjoy self-respect and self control of good personality and, above all, be unbiased.”