The long-awaited meeting between the BCCI and the umpires, in Mumbai on Saturday, could go a long way in lifting the morale of the men in white. Especially if the Board acts on the umpires’ complaints regarding cricketers’ behaviour and the facilities the officials are offered.‘‘We did not ask for any financial gains from the BCCI’’, K Hariharan, on the ICC’s panel of international umpires, told this paper. ‘‘We only want a congenial atmposphere to be created so that each one of us could perform to the best of his ability.’’Among the suggestions:• Captains should not act arbitrarily — giving zero marks, for example — while filing their report (captain’s report) after first-class matches. ‘‘How can a captain ever give zero marks to an umpire for any game? That implies the umpire is totally unfit. If the skipper has a problem on any specific decision he should mention it in the report’’, Hariharan said.Most of the umpires, Hariharan said, felt the captains were not fair in their judgement of umpires. ‘‘They often changed their stand according to their team’s position’’, he said.• Captains and match referees should meet at the end of each day’s play to review the particular day’s proceedings and improve understanding between umpires and cricketers• The BCCI should appoint match referees even for domestic fixtures it is in charge of, instead of state associations doing the job as is currently the case. ‘‘We have made it clear to the Board president that BCCI should appoint competent match referees who should have through knowledge of the rules and regulations of the game,’’ Hariharan said.He also pointed out that match referees are often not available during matches and field umpires face difficulties in sorting out problems arising during games.The Board has already agreed to several concessions to umpires:• It will make travel arrangements for all umpires appointed for domestic matches, instead of asking the umpires to make their own arrangements• It has promised to provide every association with light meters and uniform rollers at every groundThe Board also had its own list of demands for the umpires. The officials have been told that it is mandatory for them to attend net practice prior to all domestic tournament matches (excluding one-dayers) and a minimum of 10 days of umpiring in local tournaments.The umpires’ performance at domestic level would be reviewed by competent match referees appointed by the BCCI. The Board has also made it clear that ‘‘no umpire will indulge in malpractice of approaching captains, referees or officials of staging associations. If they violate the rules, they are liable to lose all benefits.’’
