Good luck, Billy, but don't mess up

The removal of Steve Bucknor from the Perth Test at the behest of the Indians might have saved ICC chief Malcolm Speed a deal of trouble, but it has also severely eroded the authority and confidence of the game's umpires.

That Bucknor had a bad game in Sydney is not the issue. From the very first time the call of "right arm over, six balls to come," reverberated around a cricket field, umpires have made incorrect decisions, some which have swayed the course of games.

Had the ICC been committed to quality umpiring, it would have taken note of Bucknor's declining sight and hearing several years ago and acted accordingly. Instead, it waited until a petulant cricketing powerhouse lost a contentious game, then folded like a pair-of-twos when a complaint was fielded.

The embarrassment suffered by Bucknor will be acute, and his reputation has been damaged, possibly beyond repair. And for what? So Speed could avoid "an all-out fight with the Indian board," as he put it yesterday.

No matter how dexterous the batsmen or skilful the bowlers, a game of cricket can only ever be as good as the umpires presiding over it. And for the sake of saving himself a row with India, Speed might just have deterred a generation of aspiring umpires from taking the field. At least those who weren't already dissuaded after Darrell Hair's axing in the face of Pakistani protests.

The ICC yesterday gagged its employees, save for Speed, from talking on issues arising from the Sydney Test. But there were a few former employees who dared speak out over the appalling treatment of Bucknor, not least one-time match referee Clive Lloyd.

"You wonder what confidence this gives umpires," Lloyd told the BBC. "What happens now if Billy Bowden makes a few mistakes?"

Former Australian coach John Buchanan was similarly dismayed. "It is my view that the ICC with their approach and decisions has failed to show the leadership that world cricket requires," Buchanan wrote on the ABC website. "Through their actions or inactions, they are threatening the future of the game."

Who would want to be an umpire? Moderate pay, long hours, constant travel ... and, now, dispensable.

Each time an Indian cricketer appeals, umpires are now compromised. Enrage the monster, and pay for it with your job. Quite the message of encouragement for a group already under immense pressure in their day-to-day duties.

Good luck, Billy. Don't mess up.

- © Fairfax NZ News