The ICC Should Ban Umpire's Call: Daryl Harper

Former international umpire, Daryl Harper feels that the ICC should get rid of the umpire’s call in the Decision Review System (DRS). Several former cricketers and experts, including Sachin Tendulkar, has raised concerns over the umpire’s call after the DRS gained attention in the second Test match between India and Australia in Melbourne.

India and Australia both made numerous reviews in which the ball showed to be clipping the stumps and hence, the decision had to stay with the original call of the on-field umpire. Therefore, there have been situations – in the Boxing Day Test and instances in the past years since the umpire’s call came into the picture – where for the exact same circumstances one batsman was deemed out while the other remained not out courtesy of the umpire’s call.

Get rid of the controversy: Daryl Harper

Daryl Harper, who officiated in 94 Tests and 174 ODIs, calls for the ban of the umpire’s call. Harper believes that if the ball is brushing the stumps, even if for a small percentage, the batsman should be given out.

The DRS rule, which came in 2008, has some deficiencies. For that, the ICC implemented a modified umpire’s call in 2016 – the ball had to be hitting at least 50 per cent of a stump in the projection – in which the teams don’t lose the review.

Harper, a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires from 2002 until 2011, says that even after a dozen years players are have not completely grasped the DRS rule. The urges the ICC to take this issue seriously.

“I’ve had enough of umpire’s call. Let’s just ban the umpire’s call. Get rid of the controversy and just go with it. Any contact with the ball on the stump will dislodge a bail. No 48 percent, 49 percent,” Daryl Harper told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“The fact it’s been going for 12 years and the public are still mystified, and the players are still mystified, would suggest that there are some deficiencies in either the communication or the understanding. So there needs to be some serious work done from the ICC’s end. Because we shouldn’t be talking about umpiring decisions,” the former umpire added.

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