Cricket: Referrals pressure got to English umpire, ICC concedes

Mark Benson is expected to retire. Photo / Getty Images

English umpire Mark Benson is expected to retire today and the International Cricket Council now admits his exit from the second test at Adelaide Oval was because of "health and pressure problems".

Benson hurriedly flew home from the match after a first day that put him at the centre of the new decision referral system, with first the Australians then Shivnarine Chanderpaul left mystified and angry about verdicts.

Thought to be of most concern for Benson was third umpire Asad Rauf's decision to give Chanderpaul out caught behind despite scant evidence to overrule Benson's original not-out call.

While initial ICC explanations were that Benson's exit was purely health-related, cricketer manager David Richardson changed that position overnight.

"What we can say without speaking to Mark himself is that he quit the test for a combination of health and pressure problems," Richardson told Sky Sports.

"Coping with a very pressured job proved too much for him. [Whether or not he continues as an elite umpire] is up to him."

Since his return home to Britain, Benson has been locked in deep discussion with the ICC umpires manager Vince van der Bijl, further fuelling the impression that the new system was at issue.

John Holder, the ICC umpires performance manager for Europe, diverged from the official view of the new system by saying that it had increased pressure on officials.

"The reality is that now umpiring is so much more under the microscope. [Benson] has had a few health problems even before he got on to the international panel. Maybe this job is not cut out for him," Holder told the Guardian.

"Imagine how it is. You have made a decision in good faith and you are having it overthrown in front of millions of people worldwide. Some people might find that humiliating. Some umpires can give a decision, be told they have got it wrong and get on with their lives. Others can't.

"The system is about eliminating mistakes, but if the umpire loses confidence when he is overruled then for that particular umpire it might have the opposite effect.

"It is my job to help restore that confidence."

- AAP