Referral system puts pressure on umpires, feel Bird, Hair

Former Test umpires Darrell Hair and Dickie Bird believe the video-review system is putting a lot of pressure on the field umpires and should be scrapped.

Umpire Mark Benson, who was rostered for the current Adelaide Test flew home abruptly after the first day saying he was unwell with heart and blood pressure problems.

However, insiders believe his return was intended as a protest against the game's new technology, which has come under fire for its many deficiencies in this Test, where it is being used for the first time in Australia.

The new system requires that the evidence be strong enough to overturn the decision of the on-field umpire.

Benson has maintained a dignified silence about his withdrawal but the Times newspaper of London reported that the English umpire was disenchanted with the new system after his decision to turn down a caught-behind appeal against Shivnarine Chanderpaul was overturned by TV umpire Asad Rauf, ostensibly on flimsy evidence.

As speculation surrounds Benson's departure, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has denied that the umpire has also been stood down from international umpiring or is about to be.

Denial
However, match referee Chris Broad denied that Benson had quit because of the controversy of the first day and pointed out that the umpire had had to stand down in India as well after becoming ill.

"He came to me on the second morning of the Test and said he was feeling unwell," Broad said. "I was with him in India when he was unwell and it might well be another situation that we were in India," Broad said.

Added pressure
Controversial umpire Darrell Hair said yesterday that Benson had not been in the best of health in recent years but believes the referral controversy would only have put more pressure on his former colleague's health.

"I was against this system when it first came out because of all the reasons that are coming out now," Hair told the Daily Telegraph yesterday.

"The ICC brought in the system to eliminate obvious errors, but players are using the system selfishly to survive a decision made by an umpire in good faith.

"I was an umpire for 78 Tests over 18 years and know what pressure is like. If TV replays show you made a bad decision, at least the game went on. Now it stops and all eyes are on you, you have to stand there and hope to the high heavens you're right."

Respected Test umpire Dickie Bird, who retired in 1996, also believes the video referral system should be scrapped.

"In the old days controversial decisions became talking points in the bars and clubs but everybody respected the umpire's authority", Bird is on record as saying.

"I am in agreement with Roger Federer, who wanted HawkEye thrown out of Wimbledon."