Umpire error cost Sri Lanka Emerging stars a place in the finals

 

By Brian Thomas

 

ICC , who conducted the Emerging stars , Asian T 20 championship , failed to have the DRS , system, which sadly made the onfield umpires and even the third umpire to not only be the all authority judge , but the Jury as well , giving a players no opportunity to appeal if proven guilty, beyond reasonable doubt.

 

Imagine attending a court session without having a lawyer to defend you , this is exactly what is happening in the ongoing Emerging players tournament in Oman , right now , with umpires making most amount of mistakes due lack of cricketing knowledge period.

 

In yesterday’s semi final , the Bangladesh umpire was only good to umpire a soft ball match at a kiddies birthday party and not an ICC tournament , what is ICC , doing pertaining to selecting umpires for grade 2 tournaments ? Look we need a corporate policy, especially in multi nations tournaments.

 

The Bangladesh umpire looked an amateur with no clue at all , his body language and the players reaction to his decisions more often than not exposed his lack of umpiring knowledge.

 

Let’s make this script short , Sri Lanka needed 8 runs in 5 balls in the final over chasing 153 as the target to qualify for the finals against Bangladesh on Sunday.

 

Milan Ratnayaka was at the wickets batting on 40 not out , with number 9 batter Trevin Mathews at the non strikers end.

 

8 needed in 5 balls , Pakistan seamer , delivers a Yorker length delivery clearly sliding down the leg side , that wraps Milan on the pads. The Pakistani players appeal in unison , and the umpire under pressure raises his dreaded finger denying justice to Sri Lanka period.

 

Did the umpire have ulterior motives , as stated by different media writings published last night ? It is not for me to judge or even come to a conclusion, but I am justified in stating , that ICC must conduct multi national tournaments with trained umpires and DRS facilities for player benefit and fair play.

 

Finally , I like to state on record, Sri Lankan batters both at National and Emerging level seem weak against quality spin , which must be addressed forthwith. The weakness is very transparent, hence winning matches in future could be tricky.