After the ICC announced their eight-member Emirates Elite Panel (EEP) of umpires in early 2002, it was hoped that the game would be cleaned up of umpiring errors and performance by the men in white more consistent.That, though, hasn’t been the case. The one-year period leading up to the addition of three more names recently, as reported in this paper, has been punctuated by repeat offences by some umpires.A member of the original Group of 8, Darryl Harper — who’s had a relatively unblemished stint in the EEP — defends his tribe. The recent world cup, he says, is an example of the standards of excellence. ‘‘There were very few questionable decisions in the 52 matches. The ICC closely scrutinised the performances of all the umpires and the overall assessment was that the officiating was of a high standard.’’The occasional slip-ups should be ignored, Harper says. ‘‘We umpires are always striving to achieve excellence, not perfection — that would be unrealistic. As with players, umpires will occasionally make a poor judgment. Most umpires prefer not to read their name in the morning papers because that suggests they have not been criticised. But we all realise that magnified replays will eventually prove to the world what we already know, that we are human.’’The ‘‘as with players’’ statement, however, lends itself to debate. Bad performances for players result in them being dropped; and indiscriminate conduct often leads to a ban. The ICC has persisted with officials who have just not been up to the mark. What’s the solution then?The parting shot there brings us to the topic of technology, with opinion divided over just how far technology should take precedence over the human touch. One school of thought believes it’s best for the game, another that it would spoil cricket’s intrinsic charm — let alone be an insult to on-field umpires, who have run the game for over 100 years.Sitting somewhere in the middle is Harper. The third-umpire techno;ogy needs improvement, he feels, pointing to the disappointing application at the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka last September. ‘‘I would not be insulted if the third umpire was given the power to veto my decisions made in the middle, but I would be concerned for the future of the sport. We must remember that cricket is a game.’’One of the more positive steps the ICC has initiated is a forum for the EEP umpires to meet, compare notes, and review their performances. A long way from a time when they might pull up officials, the same way erring cricketers are reprimanded, but a start nevertheless.Dubai was the venue of the last forum a few days back and, Harper feels, much progress was made. The year’s performance was reviewed, flaws and laws discussed. ‘‘Considerable time was devoted to confirming techniques so that all umpires are best-placed to make informed and accurate decisions.’’The EEP umpiring has been patchy at best. But with the media glare becoming more intense with each passing day, and the stakes for each match and series becoming higher, amends need to be made. We have already brought in a fair amount of technology, so why not go the whole hog? Or else, why not remove inconsistent umpiring, and inconsistent umpires.
