Cricket: New Zealand umpire under fire in Sydney test

Australian and South African test cricketers have lost confidence in the judgment of New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden and his Pakistan colleague Aleem Dar, cricket writer Mike Coward says.

The fractious nature of the third test, which finished yesterday at the Sydney Cricket Ground, only served to emphasise that international cricket had a serious problem, Coward said in The Australian newspaper.

"Its elite players are losing confidence in the competence of test match umpires," Coward said.

"It is obvious Australian and South African players no longer trust the judgment of New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden and his Pakistani counterpart Aleem Dar.

"Even the most conscientious and self-disciplined players are finding it increasingly difficult to mask their frustration."

Bowden and Dar made some poor decisions in the match and the players' reactions to them have been heated.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting has involved himself in protracted on-field discussions with the officials, as he did at least once during the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series in New Zealand.

Coward said the fact that South African coach Mickey Arthur and Australian pacemen Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath were reported for breaches of the sport's disciplinary code could, to a certain degree, be ascribed to the level of their frustration at the umpiring.

While there was always tension and differences between players and officials in sport, there was usually a respect for each other's abilities and capacities, he said.

"From afar it has seemed this respect has been absent for much of this match."

Coward said the International Cricket Council (ICC) had to act swiftly on the problem. "No sport can withstand a fundamental breakdown in the relationship between the combatants and their adjudicators.

"If there is no respect and rapport, there can be no faith and no trust."

Bowden and Dar were involved in another controversy on Thursday when they ruled the pitch was unfit for play in the afternoon until 2.30pm AEDT despite most observers believing play could have started at least an hour earlier.

Coward said Bowden and Dar had received good notices from players, referees and critics in the past, "and the fact they have so conspicuously lost form suggests a physical and mental tiredness".

He said they had an exhausting schedule. So much cricket was now programmed it had become impossible for the ICC to appoint an umpire from its elite panel to every test match.

He suggested the ICC revisit the system of neutral umpires, saying the best officials were missing out on marquee games because of the policy.

"The burning issue in the game is not that of neutrality but of competence and for the sake of the peace of mind of the players and the general welfare of the game, the issue must go back to the table."

In the Sydney Morning Herald, former Somerset captain Peter Roebuck said there had been a breakdown between "unprepared and unprotected umpires".

He was critical of match referee Chris Broad for not intervening when tempers became raw in the second test at Melbourne.

Former Australian player Ian Healy, now a commentator for Channel Nine, believed umpires should be able to call on video replays, while captains could also ask for a replay for a limited number of occasions.

"I would like to see each side have two, maybe three appeals, to an umpire ... per match."

He said South African captain Graeme Smith could have appealed under such a system for the lbw decision he received on Thursday morning.

Bowden adjudged him out, but Channel Nine's Hawkeye technology indicated the ball would have passed well over the stumps.

Broad has prevented the umpires from commenting.

- NZPA