Cricket News Headlines

ICC stands by umpires despite Indian
complaints


SYDNEY (Reuters) - The International Cricket Council
will resist Indian demands to sack umpire Steve Bucknor
from standing in next week's third test against Australia.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wants Bucknor
banned from officiating at the match in Perth as punishment for
a series of blunders he made during the second test in Sydney.
The ICC said member countries were not permitted to interfere or
oppose the appointment of umpires.
"The standard test match playing conditions are signed by the
respective board, and the condition states that neither team has a
right to object to an umpire's appointment. There is little
ICC can do," an ICC spokesman said on Monday.
Bucknor and Englishman Mark Benson were heavily criticised
by Indian officials for their handling of the second test which
Australia won by 122 runs.
Both teams were adversely affected by wrong calls but
India suffered more than the Australians.
The most significant occurred on the first day when
Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds was incorrectly
given not out on 30 before going on to make 162 not out.
Then on the last day India's Rahul Dravid was wrongly given
out when he was trying to save the game.
"I have been informed by the BCCI that they are lodging a
strong protest with the ICC, so that some of the incompetent
umpires do not umpire in the rest of the series," the Indian team
manager Chetan Chauhan told a news conference.
"We're not saying this because we have lost the game. It was for
everybody to see."
Benson was not scheduled to stand in the third test but
61-year-old Bucknor was listed to officiate along with
Pakistan's Asad Rauf.
Jamaican-born Bucknor is the most experienced umpire in
international cricket history, having stood in a record 120 tests, and
five World Cup finals