PORT ELIZABETH, 23 November — I pen down these lines and in the days of laptops that’s exactly what I am doing in spite of having my laptop with me. It has been virtually impossible to get a connection from the hotel I am in so i’ts back to the good old longhand writing.
This may well be an isolated happening for others may be getting connected. What definitely is not isolated is the hassle the Indian media has had to undergo for there are no dedicated lines for them at the grounds and so they have had to take the help of their South African colleagues or rush back to the hotels to send their copy and considering the time difference and the deadlines to meet it has been pretty stressful to say the least.
In spite of these troubles and the nonavailability of fax machines for most of the tour for the regional language press to send their dispatches the Indian media has hardly made a noise about it, at least publicly.
Just imagine the same thing happening in India to the overseas media and the whole world and its aunt would have been told how it is impossible to get any decent facilities in India and our own media would have joined in the criticism.
‘Tigers at home and lambs abroad’ is not an exclusive tag for the Indian cricketers! That’s why it was so good to see the way the Indian media got behind the team after the sentences were announced by the match referee and it proves once again that it takes either a war or a calamity to get the Indians together.
The scene at the press conference where the match referee Mike Denness was subjected to a barrage of questions does bring into focus the ICC regulation that forbids the referee from speaking to the media about his decisions and why he took them.
The media rightly asked that if the referee was not going to answer questions, why were they called. A press release would have been the better course of action rather than a press conference where a match referee cannot even explain his point of view.
The ugly scenes that were seen around the cricketing world and even where cricket is not a major sport could then have been avoided.
At the time of writing, the ICC has indicated that the match referee will not be changed, neither will the decisions taken by him be kept in abeyance for a review and that puts the ball firmly back into the Indian board’s court. By the time this appears in print, we will have known whether cricket has won. Unfortunately there are plenty of people in decision-making areas who have old scores to settle and axes to grind and that does not augur well for a decision in the game’s interest, but the world is full of surprises and though there may well be a digging of heels, finally any decision will be made from the head and not the heart.
What is needed is a statesman-like approach but then how many sports administrators have this attribute?
What this whole episode does underscore is the urgency to have the elite panel of umpires and match referees in place much before the targeted date of April 1, 2002. The cricketing world simply cannot afford to lurch from one controversy to another and an elite panel which has the confidence of the players will ensure to a great extent that episodes like this will be very very rare.
As of now every cricket board nominates two persons to be on the ICC referees’ panel and it’s from these that the ICC decides the postings to the various series played around the world. Not all, but there are some nominations which have to do with the local politics and power equations of that country’s board.
So, honorable men that they are and without casting the least bit of aspersions on them and their capabilities, they may not be the best nor would they be the ones to evoke respect from the players.
It is therefore perhaps important for the ICC to go beyond these nominations and look at ex-players of repute who will have the players’ respect and their admiration too. Somebody like a Clive Lloyd, a Majid Khan, a G.R.Vishwanath, an Allan Border, a Sir Richard Hadlee are some ex-players who have been giants during their time and whose integrity is beyond question.
Having played some hard, closely fought matches during their time they will understand much better than some others how committed players can be and how sometimes in their fierce desire to do well for their country and team, they will show passion and emotion but which is not questioning the umpires’ authority nor doubting his ability.
An elite panel of umpires in any case will be able to nip in the bud any player who is getting carried away and out of hand by having a quiet word and not making too much of a fuss about it.
Ranjan Madugalle has already been appointed the chief match referee by the ICC and he is to go around the cricketing world to interact with the nominated persons by the various boards to find others who will join him on the elite panel of five match referees.
It is not going to be an easy decision to make and definitely harder than composing the elite umpires’ panel. At least for the umpires there is a marking system by the captains and the match referees which will be taken into account but there is nothing similar for the referees.That’s why the suggestion to look beyond the nominations.
The quicker it is done the better, for there is a potentially controversial tour of India on at the moment, what with the happenings before the English team finally decided to tour. With the British media already showing that it has come with preconceived notions and closed minds and with their antipathy to the BCCI president as clear as daylight, the potential for a spark to ignite into a flame is enormous.
Hopefully better sense will prevail and cricket will come out on top. (Professional Management Group)
