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| Wednesday, 10 March 2004 |
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India, Pakistan series can break many barriers says Madugalle by Sa'adi Thawfeeq The International Cricket Council's (ICC) chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle of Sri Lanka said that the upcoming Test and One-day International series between Asian cricketing giants India and Pakistan could break many barriers if it is played in the right spirit. Madugalle who will officiate as match referee for the series called upon the players of both India and Pakistan to go to the middle and enjoy themselves and play cricket to the best of their ability rather than 'look for other things'. "This would be a wonderful opportunity specially for the two captains to set the stage and set an example by leading their teams to a good series," said Madugalle. Sourav Ganguly leads India and Pakistan will be captained by Inzamam-ul-Haq. "By doing so the two countries can show the cricketing public and the world at large that lots of barriers can be broken through the spirit of cricket and through the spirit of sportsmanship," he said. India has not toured Pakistan for 15 years and the two countries have not played Test cricket with each other nor exchanged tours for the past six years. The series is due to start on March 13 with five one-day internationals and end on April 17 with the third and final Test. "My previous experiences of having refereed matches where India and Pakistan have been involved in, is that they are like any other team. There is obviously hard competition on the field, but mutual respect for one another. I can't see it being any different in this series," said Madugalle. An honour Madugalle said that he looked forward to any appointment as an honour, but added: "This tour in particular is a long awaited one. There'll be a lot of interest around the tour in itself." "My focus would always be the same. That is to ensure the smooth running of the series. I wouldn't be looking outside that but I am well aware of what the outside pressures of a tour like this could be and I am prepared for that," he said. Madugalle admitted that the cricket umpires job is one of the toughest in the world and in the field of sport and it has not been any easy with the advancement of technology. "What technology has done is while it exposes umpires who are making mistakes regularly it also throws very clearly the ones who are making the good decisions and the right ones. With the aid of technology you are able to sort out this very quickly," said Madugalle. "Players have also begun to appreciate sometimes how tough it is to give decisions and when it comes to really the close ones they tend to understand that much better than otherwise." "I think you've got to live with that problem but the good ones will be the one's who will make mistakes less than the other," he said. Umpires are fairly judged Madugalle said that there was a very comprehensive evaluation system in place for umpires and that the umpires are being judged very fairly on their performances. Madugalle explained that at the end of every match there are four people who send reports, three on sight - the two captains and the match referee. Every appeal that has been made in the match is logged by the match referee and sent to London. An independent observer in London who is a former Test umpire views the tapes of matches that the umpires officiate and then rate them according to the decisions they have made on an independent basis. "It is the collective marks of all those people that go into the final computation of a person's performance for the match," said Maduglle. "A CD of all those decisions he has made is cut and sent back to the umpire concerned with comments. So it's a fairly good system that is in place, which wasn't there some years ago. It's an objective process rather than a subjective process." "Every umpire in the panel is completely aware of the process. Not only are the umpires but also the chief executive of every country is aware of it and its marking system. The umpires are not marked not only on decisions they make on the field, but on knowledge, player acceptance, on-field control and management of behaviour and otherwise, understanding of playing conditions. There are so many factors that are taken into consideration. It's a fairly good assessment that is in place," Madugalle said. "If a decision is not 100 percent conclusive, the umpire in the assessment process will give the benefit of that decision to the umpire which means that it won't be marked as a poor decision," he said. Madugalle now approaching 45 has been nearly ten years in the business. Having started in 1993-94 at Karachi he has officiated in 58 Tests and 150 one-day internationals as match referee and is the most experienced in his field. "What I have learnt most from my experience as a match referee is that I have been able to interact with various personalities from diverse cultures and languages and their way of life. The ability to work along with them, get what you want, convey the message and ensure that cricket becomes the final winner within the frame work of my job. "The other most important aspect has been the fact that I've had to take decisions which could have far reaching ramifications when basically you take if for the right reasons. "The important aspect has been the experience the job has given me in terms of just absolutely everything from understanding people, working in different conditions, travel, the minds of stars, and how skills have improved in the game of cricket. It is an experience I wouldn't trade for anything else. When I look back I think I have been really blessed in that sense. It's been a privilege that I have been able to work in that role. Madugalle said the advancement the game has made in the past decade or so has been in the area of technology, fitness and strength of mind. Mahanama and Venkat "Strength of mind is one thing that I have seen that has basically driven teams apart in the last so many years. Whereas some still go on the age-old premise of talent and flair, others use that as the core base but work on the other strengths. When it comes to the crunch it is the side that has the greater all round skill and depth in every area that comes through," said Madugalle. "Another aspect is that while some countries concentrate only on those areas, lots of other countries which are in the top league ensure that their administration, cricketing facilities, support base is world class in order to produce match-winning sides. They also produce match-winning support systems," he said. Madugalle said that he was absolutely delighted with the appointment of Roshan Mahanama as a member of the ICC match referees elite panel. "Having played with Roshan and knowing him as a friend he has all the qualities to make it to the top. I wish him well. From a cricketing standpoint it shows that with the game of cricket growing there are career opportunities for players after the game from coaching to training, umpiring and refereeing. These are things that help people to devote themselves to a career after they finish their cricket if they have the essential ingredients and the background," said Madugalle. Following the retirement of Srini Venkatraghavan from the ICC umpires elite panel, Madugalle described him as an 'amazing personality'. "Forgetting his cricketing exploits many people don't really know about it his acute mind and his wide knowledge. His constant turning out of mathematical formulas and solutions is absolutely amazing. With a guy like Venkat you must never go talking statistics or historical dates or basically how to do formulas," said Madugalle. "I have played against him when he was captain of India in the World Cup. Then he was match referee and the roles were reversed when he became an umpire and I, a referee. It been a great experience being in contact with him for the last so many years and I wish him well in retirement and look forward to saying 'Hi' to him in Chennai," he said. |
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