Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport

Bucknor

INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL (ICC) Elite Panel umpire, Steve Bucknor, has chastised the sport's governing body's decision to remove him from standing in the on-going Test series between hosts Australia and India, calling the timing of his removal a 'sad day' for umpires.

"I am disappointed that I am not continuing the tour between Australia and India, in Australia. But I respect ICC's authority in the matter," noted the 61-year-old Bucknor in a statement titled 'Steve Bucknor responds', which was issued yesterday from his home in Montego Bay.

Significant error

Bucknor, the ICC's most experien-ced umpire, has stood in a record 121 Tests and five World Cup Finals. He was replaced by New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden for the third Test that starts on Wednesday (today local time), after making two controversial decisions that impacted on the Indian team, which lost the second Test in Sydney by 122 runs.

The most significant error occurred on the first day when Australian all-rounder, Andrew Symonds, was given not out from a caught behind chance when 30, with his team under pressure at 130 for six. The Australian middle order batsman went on to score 162 not out, while guiding his team to a first innings total of 463.

As India batted to save the match on the final day in their second innings, Rahul Dravid was given out caught behind for 38, leaving with the score at 115 for four. Replays indicated the ball never touched Dravid's bat.

The dismissal triggered a middle-order collapse from which India never recovered and were eventually bowled out for 210 in the scheduled second-to-last over when Michael Clarke took three wickets, with nine minutes playing time remaining.

'Sad day'

Commenting on his fateful decisions yesterday, Bucknor reasoned: "To err is human, to forgive divine, as the old saying goes. However, I consider it a sad day to see umpires sidelined after making only two wrong decisions out of a record of 35 appeals. I have no further comment to make on this matter at this time."

It is unusual for the ICC to allow its members to interfere with the appointment of umpires, but ICC's chief executive, Malcolm Speed, said the change was made to alleviate mounting pressure in the series which is also being affected by a racial row involving Symonds and Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh.