Wednesday, 9 February 2005
Umpiring in Oz
Australian umpires have always been amongst the worst in the world when it comes to favouring their own team (anyone else remember Martin Snedden's infamous catch which wasn't, or Lance Cairns being no-balled for intimidation) - and it seems that international umpires aren't immune to the Australian influence either. Mark Richardson has decided to give his opinion after hearing complaints from the Pakistanis. The Stuff website is running a poll based on this column and it is currently running at 85% of respondants agreeing with the statement that Australian umpires are biased towards their own players. Go and add your two cents worth.
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I don't think it is just the Australian umpires; I think the neutral umpires also have some level of subconscious bias towards the Australians. They seem to be mesmerised by them somehow - almost as if they are convinced that the Australians are so good that they just can't get out, so they are more inclined to give them not out in marginal decisions, or vice versa when it comes to the bowlers.
I really got this impression when New Zealand was touring Australia and now Bob Woolmer has given us statistics for the Pakistan series - 29-5 in Australia's favour in marginal decisions. Even allowing for Woolmer's own subconscious bias, a five-fold difference is outrageous.
I think the current home season in Australia has shown us that the time has come for technology to be used in marginal lbw and caught behind decisions. I'm getting a little tired of people saying that umpiring errors are just a fact of life in cricket and then immediately saying they don't like Hawkeye because it isn't 100% accurate. After all, what we really need is something that is 100% impartial.
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