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Journalism of Courage
For an organisation that is largely high on intent,the ICC gets an extraordinary amount of criticism. It is not difficult,though,to see why. People like targets to aim at and the ICC,a body far less powerful than people imagine it to be (witness its powerlessness on Zimbabwe!),stands tall and in focus! In recent times it must be a bit relieved to get some company from the BCCI who now stand accused of just about everything that is wrong with the game!
The ICC is now discovering that the umpire referral system,and I must admit I thought it had merit,isnt the solution to every moment of discontent in the game. If people in the ICC are confused I can sympathise with them. First,the world criticised them for not using technology and now that they are,they are being criticised for everything that comes along with it! I believe though,that in its current form,it is only a work in progress and maybe,like the software developers do,we must call it URS2.0. I have no doubt there will soon be URS3.0 and that will,or should,bring us closer to the ideal situation.
One of the problems URS2.0 faces is that it allows the umpire to make a judgement on an lbw verdict based on a television picture. It means the umpire is guessing the trajectory the ball might take from a TV screen,which is not a good idea,but one that is rendered worse by the large image of the stumps in the background. I have seen a few such still images and virtually every one of those looks out because the stumps are looming large. I believe the only solution is to ask the replay umpire if the ball pitched in line and if there was an edge from bat onto pad. With anything more than that we are in dangerous territory,especially because the person handling the graphics will be better,and more experienced,than the umpire who has to pass judgement.
It seems to me therefore that the quickest,and most effective,way to move on is for the TV umpire to merely use one of five alternatives; 1) edge,2) no edge pitched in line hit in line,3) no edge pitched outside hit in line,4) no edge pitched outside hit outside,5) pitched outside leg. With alternatives 1 and 5,he is effectively taking a decision,with 3,4 and 5,he is providing a valuable input to the on-field umpire. Height,which is the other variable,has to be left completely to the on-field umpire. In addition he could check if there has been a clear edge in a catch decision for example,though the hot spot seems a better bet. If hot spot is obscured,I think we just need to move on and take it as one of those things. The simpler we keep it,the easier it will be for everyone and maybe we will have fewer outcries against the system.
Talking of outcries I hope I am not the only one bewildered by the extraordinary language used by a newspaper in New Zealand against the Indian manager. This column has not always agreed with the BCCI,or indeed with Niranjan Shah,but to call someone a goon is way beyond any definition of propriety. The dictionary on my laptop offers the following meanings for the word goon; thug,gangster,someone who beats up people or terrorises them,is uncouth or clumsy. I dont think anyone was referring to the last meaning but to call anyone a thug or a gangster is not on. It reminds me of the words used by visiting journalists against Indian umpires from the days when there were no replays. It shouldnt have been acceptable then and it cannot be acceptable now. Have we gone beyond disagreeing with people without calling them names?
New Zealand Cricket,or indeed the host broadcaster who wants to use a commentator associated with the ICL,is not answerable to the BCCI. NZC would have accepted what the ICC says and maybe the host broadcaster has to agree to what NZC says. In effect,if the BCCI exceeds its jurisdiction,NZC can,and should,ask them to take a walk. But if NZC agree to tow the BCCI line,the fault lies there. If the host broadcaster believes its independence is being compromised,it should hire Craig McMillan and fight its case against NZC or the ICC,or live with the consequences.
I do not agree with the BCCI stance on the ICL,now that it is almost gone,but given that it is the approved course of action,Niranjan Shah had no choice but to pull Tendulkar and Karthik out of the T20 game. We can live with disagreement,indeed dissent sometimes needs to be encouraged,but we need to stamp out offensive language starting with calling a visiting manager a goon immediately.
