No sympathy for professional umpires

Test umpires are well paid professionals who should be able to do their job competently. When they fail to do so they should be subject to some form of disciplinary procedure, as most people failing to do their job properly would expect to face.

Somehow this obvious point is overlooked in the world of Test cricket, where the umpires are more akin to bastions of the game than people with a job to do. They are heavily protected by the ICC in an arena where players, whose careers are on the line, are required not to show them dissent, no matter how appalling their decision may be.

Supposedly every Test umpire is assessed on their performance in each match, yet they are rarely disciplined or fired, despite the atrocious decisions that crop up in most Tests. The ICC seems unable to provide enough top quality officials and to give them the adequate technology and procedures to carry out their job.

When umpires are removed from office it is for the wrong reasons. The sad thing about Darrell Hair and Steve Bucknor is not that they were removed from umpiring, but that it took pressure from cricket boards to force the ICC's hand, when International cricket's governing body should have acted itself.

The bottom line for most cricket players and followers is that a match is won by the team that plays the best, not the one that gets the best of the umpiring decisions. In this regard surely the best officials should be sought, trained and given the best tools to do their job as well as possible. If technology can reduce errors then it should be introduced widely. On field umpires should have the flexibility to call on the assistance of third umpires for any decisions that are in doubt. If the doubt persists after viewing replays, etc, then the batsman should receive the benefit of it.

A player's career is in the hands of the umpire, with decisions leading to the stats and performance indicators that decide if a player continues for their team or not. When this is a career at the highest level chances to come back are often at a premium. The old adage that luck evens itself out over a career is made nonsense if all the bad luck comes in a player's first few matches and they never have a career.

Bad decisions made by umpires at crucial times can swing a match and sometimes a series. This state of affairs simply cannot be left to carry on. Improvements in the quality and training of umpires at the highest level must be made and those officials must be given the support of the best technology.

Once these measures are in place those umpires failing to maintain a good level of competence should be dropped and only return when they have proven their ability once again. That is how it is for players and, in the world of professional sport, that is how it should be for officials.