Wrong focus

Sriram Veera, in another interesting article on the domestic scene in India, finishes by asking the question

But the question remains, when will India throw up a quality umpire good enough to enter the elite panel?

My two cents -

I don't think that should be India's focus anyways. Having umpires in the Elite Panel was a big deal in the 90's, when India was not yet THE place to be for International cricket. Add to that a middling team and having an umpire in the Elite Panel was considered prestigious.

Times have changed and I am not sure getting umpires into the Elite Panel is necessarily what it is cut out to be these days.

For two reasons.

1. On the top of my head I can think of Simon Taufel, Asad Rauf, Aleem Dar, Asoka DeSilva, Mark Benson, Rudy Koetzen, Billy Bowden and Steve Bucknor who are part of the Elite Panel.

And none of these worthies inspire the kind of faith that a David Shepard or a Dickie Bird invoked.Every umpire has been found wanting in certain conditions - Taufel was miserable in England, Dar and Rauf haven't been spectacular in the Southern Hemisphere, Bowden and Koetzen are in a league of their own while Benson and Bucknor - the less said the better.

So, the first question that pops up is - what is the standard for being an Elite Umpire anyways? Umpires make mistakes. They stand more exposed today than at any other time in Cricket's history thanks to technology. So, what is the Gold Standard by which the quality of the umpire is to be gauged?

2. Technology -

Full disclosure - I am not big on technology in the game ( related posts here,here, here. tangential post - here) and the reason I am not big is because technology is hostage to the broadcaster. And so, an umpire can be made to look like an idiot by telecasting ( or not telecasting) all the relevant angles in a dismissal.

And with the referral system gaining more prominence, the whole umpire-player dynamic is changing. And as the stakes grow higher, the functions of the umpire are correspondingly being compromised.

In this scenario, is being a member of the Elite Panel as cut up as it sounds?

I think India had to focus on its umpiring standards - for its own good. We play the game where the umpires are savvy with the rules, the standards under which the games are played are high and it will directly and indirectly benefit Indian cricket.

In fact, if umpiring standards are coupled with pitches ( and variances therein), it can only help us get umpires who are not only knowledgeable and cricket savvy, but also acquainted with umpiring in different conditions ( and therefore, better rounded).

To paraphrase, let us do everything to get our umpiring standards up. And if the ICC thinks it is worth their while to utilize our umpiring pool, good for them. If not, lets not sweat it!

( as an aside, why don't we see more articles of this nature on CricInfo? )

PS:- About a year ago, I cam across an interesting piece in the Mumbai Mirror - in a local game, the players had batsman had pushed the ball to the deep and run 4. The fielder, to prevent any extra runs, kicked the ball beyond the boundary rope.

At this, the umpire awarded 4 over throws to the batsman in addition to the runs run. I thought ( and continue to think) that it was a brilliant call!