‘Single’ umpires officiate, maintain scores in Bengal district matches

CALCUTTA (India): In a bizarre incident that flouts cricketing rules and belies logic, matches at the accredited district tournaments of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) are currently conducted by single umpires.

But it doesn’t stop there, as the umpire also doubles up as tournament’s official scorer!

Such blatant flouting of basic umpiring rules has put the Hooghly District Sports Association (HDSA), which has a total 30 teams competing in the super and senior divisions, in a spot of bother.  

The International Cricket Council clearly says on its website, “Umpires together agree applies to decisions which the umpires are to make jointly, independently of the players,” but the rule has been ridiculed in Bengal with ‘one-umpire’ officiating HDSA tournaments has raised concerns and doubts on the authenticity of these matches.

The HDSA, which was founded in 1919, also has age-group teams (U14, 16, 18) that regularly takes part in the various events at its Chinsurah and Northern Park grounds.

“We’re helpless. We don’t have enough umpires. We’ve to complete 700 matches in a year,” HDSA secretary general Bikash Mullick told Khel Updates on Wednesday.

“We’ve had advertised a lot to attract umpires. There’s lack of enthusiasm for conducting the district matches. We also hired umpires from Calcutta for our matches but this isn’t possible over and over again.”

Due to such an imbroglio, several matches had been canceled while others remained incomplete.  

“We’ve received a report and have asked the district to identify those matches. It’s not possible to change the results from such matches, but the teams can be awarded a point each,” said CAB District Committee Chairman Subhash Kundu.

Asked why the CAB has not initiated any umpire’s development programe in the districts, Basu added: “CAB follows BCCI guidelines. Every year, the national body conduct umpires workshops in Calcutta. We share the details of such workshops to the districts. It’s them who does the umpire trainings as it’s not possible for CAB to oversee the 18 districts.”

But the sad part is that most umpires on the BCCI domestic panel are not first-class players, and to become an umpire in India, experience of playing at a recognised level is not necessary.