Time for ICC to take serious note

Dear Editor, on 9 th July you kindly published “A Letter to Simon Taufel “, following the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow in a crucial Ashes Test match.

In that letter I also wrote as follows.

“My point here is should there not be mitigating considerations when no advantage is sought in a careless over sight .

Could some thought be given for Umpire discretion being incorporated in matters as these where no unfair advantage is sought by a player in an unwitting action that results in his dismissal.”

On Monday in Delhi, . while Mathew could be faulted for not being properly equipped as a professional cricketer when stepping on to the field, and was timed out , the fact that the Umpire asked the Bangladesh Captain if he wished to withdraw the appeal spoke for itself in terms of the spirit of the game and not its Laws nor its rules.

Surely it’s time for the ICC to take serious note because twice in the same year, two unwitting actions by batsmen, with NO intention whatsoever to take any unfair advantage have resulted in dismissals that challenged the spirit of the game not to mention the impact they may have had on their respective outcomes.

It’s indeed a great pity that cricketers who earn as much as they do from this great game fail on occasion to show respect for its values!

So, there may now be a serious need to bring in ” Umpire Discretion ” in the decision-making process.

Let’s hope the ICC ‘s Umpires Committee will be willing to address it seriously !

S. Skandakumar