Tony Becca

THE FINAL of the Capital and Credit Merchant Bank national limited-overs cricket competition takes place at Chedwin Park tomorrow, with defending champions Melbourne up against Kensington in what promises to be a close and thrilling encounter.

While the two teams are those which won the semi-finals last week, however, there is a change in the umpires who were assigned to officiate in the match two weeks ago.

Chung replaced

The umpires assigned for the match were Vivian Johnson and Maurice Chung. The umpires who will do the match are Johnson and Patrick Gustard. The change was made on Wednesday and the cricket-lovers in Jamaica would like to know why.

The story is that Norman Malcolm, the president of the Jamaica Cricket Umpires Association (JCUA), and Leo daCosta were down to do the semi-final match between Melbourne and St. Elizabeth at Kensington Oval, but daCosta was unavailable, Chung was called upon to do the match which he did.

On Monday, he was reminded by an executive of the JCUA of his duty on Saturday, and on Wednesday he was informed that things had changed and that he has been replaced.

Why was Chung replaced?

According to information coming out of the JCUA, Chung was replaced because of complaints that it is a final between Melbourne and Kensington, that Chung, who represented them as a player, is a member of Kensington, and because of that it would not look good for him to be one of the umpires in the match.

According to the members of the JCUA, the association has been receiving telephone calls since Monday protesting Chung's appointment.

If that is true, that is nonsense - total unadulterated nonsense.

Although justice should always appear to be done, and although it seems logical that Chung should not stand in a match involving the club he used to represent, there are a few things which are relevant to this case.

One is that Jamaica is a small country, two is that Chung is a good, honest and unbiased umpire, and three is that Chung has been standing in matches involving Melbourne and Kensington for years now.

Experienced umpire

Four is that Chung is an experienced umpire, five is that of the 15 matches he has umpired involving Melbourne in his 15 years as an umpire, Melbourne have won 14 and lost one, six is that of the 11 matches he has umpired involving Kensington, like Melbourne - one of the most successful teams in the country - have won eight and lost three, seven is that of the three matches he has done between Melbourne and Kensington, Melbourne have won two and Kensington one, and eight is that Chung, a Jamaican-born and bred, has umpired in regional first-class matches involving Jamaica.

If Chung, a Jamaican, can officiate in a regional match involving Jamaica, there is no reason, no reasonable reason, why he cannot and should not umpire a match involving his old club -- the club from which he has distanced himself since becoming an umpire and all because of what is happening right now.

Chung's character is being questioned and, although no one is willing to say by who, that is not right. In fact, it is totally unfair. On top of all that, Jamaica's cricket has been suffering, those in cricket have been calling for help from those who used to play the game and who were involved with the game.

No one will step forward

However, based on what is happening to Chung, - a man who has dedicated his life to the game - no one will be willing to step forward or should step forward, and for the simple reason that those who played the game and those who were involved in the game were, obviously, at some time other, used to be members of a club and/or used to represent that club.

If Chung is not fit enough to umpire a match because he represented one of the clubs involved, then God help Jamaica's cricket - for the simple reason that if one follows the line of argument used in the protest, with most people in cricket in this small country having been a member of a club or having represented a club or a parish, there would be nobody in cricket at the leadership level.

It stands to reason, for example, that the president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) should not be the president -- for the simple reason that he is a member of Kingston Cricket Club and that he once represented the club.

Also that the chairman of the selection committee should not be the chairman or even a member of that committee - for the simple reason that he is a member of Melbourne Cricket Club and that he represented the club. And that the national coach should not be the national coach - for the simple reason that he is the coach of St. Elizabeth Technical High School and the coach of the St. Elizabeth parish team.

In other words, while they cannot give a batsman out or not out, while they cannot decide the fate of a match, they can, if they are dishonest, show bias in relation to players and the national team.