By Tony Becca,
Senior Sport Editor
THE International Cricket Council has confirmed its commitment to review and restructure the system used for the recruitment and appointment of independent umpires and match referees.
In a statement issued recently by chief executive David Richards, the ICC said the issue was one of the important priorities in international cricket and that it was working hard to agree and implement new procedures in the shortest practical time.
According to Richards, the Australian who will be replaced in June by another Australian, Malcolm Speed, the ICC had already agreed to a process for reviewing both the use of technology and the wider issue of providing the highest standard of umpiring and refereeing but recent events have brought added attention to both areas.
Umpires officiating in the just concluded series between Sri Lanka and England and India and Australia were accused of making a number of simple mistakes, and so too were those on duty in the first two matches of the current series between the West Indies and Australia.
The ICC's cricket committee is scheduled to meet in May to review playing conditions for the next three years, and according to Richards, the use of technology will definitely be discussed.
The meeting will be chaired by Sunil Gavaskar with the committee including former Test cricketers such as Allan Border, Zaheer Abbas, Kris Srikkanth, Duleep Mendis and Andy Pycroft.
At a meeting of its executive board in February, the ICC agreed to the principle of a major review of the regulation of the game on the field - including the umpires and the referees.
At present, independent Test match umpires are selected from a panel of 20 nominated by the Test-playing countries. The proposal is for a panel of eight contracted umpires with the appointments based on merit and reflecting the seniority and status of individuals following, among other things, marks by captains.
The proposal also calls for another group of 25 to 30 umpires to be groomed so that they can support and in time join the elite panel. The grooming process will include extensive training, physical screening, including sight and hearing checks, and international exchange programmes.
According to the ICC, the aim is to offer the best umpires a viable and professional career path in the international game.
The proposal is similar for match referees with both systems scheduled to be introduced in April 2002.
