He Tore A Hamstring Dot Mee Dot UK

Human Error? System Error? HARPER!

On December 20th, I spoke about certain absurdities of the ICC Umpire Review System. On that occasion, I was perfectly happy to ridicule the ICC, cricket’s governing body.

I did not on that occasion factor in ‘Human Error’. We accept Umpires to be human, and hence mistakes can be made. We do not however expect an Umpire to have access to technology and still get it horribly wrong.

The introduction of the Review System is, we are told, to eradicate the ‘shockers’. (Players will of course interpret this in their own manner, and according to the needs of their team at a given time!)

I am not going to repeat in depth, the opinions which you will have heard universally regarding the rights and wrongs of the Graeme Smith incident today. However, yet again, the ICC and the seemingly untouchable Daryl Harper are at the root of an unpalatable controversy.

Most of the time, the Elite Panel are getting it right. Ironically, it appears that the same Umpires who get it consistently wrong in the middle, are those that get it wrong in the box also.

Umpire Harper has been no stranger to controversy in this respect, infamously ‘seeing off’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brendan Nash during the 3rd Afternoon of the Bridgetown Test last year.

Neither of these decisions were overly difficult, and if brutally frank, neither was the controversial decision not to give Graeme Smith caught behind this morning. During Graeme’s interview with SKY Sports’ Michael Atherton at the close of play, you could almost see a wry smile on the face of the South African skipper, as he insisted that he didn’t think ‘at the time’ that he had nicked it! Have no fear Graeme, I will certainly not criticise anyone in the modern game for not being a ‘walker’.

Being quite honest, any player who had made as many crucial and shocking mistakes as Mr Harper, would not be playing international cricket at any time soon. Simply, I do not believe that Mr Harper should be umpiring in international cricket at any time soon. Of course, if I trusted the ICC to actually take any responsibility for incompetence on their panel, or any other part of their governance, I would not fear for the future of the game in the manner that I do.

The ICC do not walk away from this incident untarred. Human error it may have been, but why on earth are we watching a Test Match, with the Review System employed, and much of the necessary technology absent?

On November 21, last year, Stuart Hess wrote in South Africa that the Review System:

will not be in use for the much-anticipated Test series, with host broadcaster the SABC deeming it too expensive.

The BBC reported just 4 days earlier:

The controversial umpire referral system is in crisis and will not be in place for England’s Test series in South Africa

The ICC were in fact left with 2 very simple choices:-

- Utilise some of the funds from their Dubai ‘Ivory Towers’ to ensure that each Host Broadcaster in the Test Playing world is equipped with the appropriate technology

- Where the facilities do not allow for full use of technology, do NOT employ the Review System

Yet again however, the International Cricket Conference come up with the quite staggering notion of what can only be described as a ‘Partial Review’, employing the Review System without both ‘Snicko‘ and ‘Hot Spot‘. This despite apparently being well aware that the SABC were ill equipped to do so.

I can only hope, that for the sake of the game that I love, the ICC will eventually take responsibility for its own actions, and drop the arrogance which threatens to destroy the game of cricket.

And in doing so … send Mr Harper back to club cricket, and buy him a new headset which reaches above volume level 4!