Umpire Singh takes umbrage at Greig's comments

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, MARCH 29. Umpire M.R. Singh, who was at the centre of a controversy during the India vs South Africa one-day International at Kochi has written a strongly-worded letter of complaint to cricketer-commentator Tony Greig, following Greig's reactions to his umpiring during that match.

In the letter, Singh has requested Greig to make a statement about the ``correct position'' on his umpiring and asked Greig to present his ``revised views about the competence and integrity of the concerned umpire.''

Former England captain Greig used words like ``ridiculous'' and ``disgusting'' to describe Singh's umpiring during that match, which India won with one ball to spare. Singh's letter dated March 16, circulated to the press today, asks Greig to ``display the courage'' to issue clarifications on air about that criticism during forthcoming matches. The letter goes on to insist that, ``the reparation be as public as my denuciation was.''

Umpire Singh has accused Greig of ``character assassination'' in the letter, a copy of which has been sent to Graham Koos, Channel 9's head of production for the India-South Africa series. According to Singh, Greig's ``irresponsible'' statements, have caused him ``loss of reputation and prestige and... mental anguish.''

Greig had used strident language when umpire Singh called Shaun Pollock for a no-ball in the last over remarking that the Indian team ``could have won the match even without the help from the umpire.'' This, Singh believes is implying that he ``cheated and displayed bias towards India.''

Singh defends his call of the no-ball stating that, ``the action at the time the bowler put his foot down was shown to the viewers, whereas what is important and relevant in judging a no- ball is the position of the front foot at the instant of delivery.'' Singh said that subsequent replays of the no-ball incident have proved him correct and Greig's innuendos about bias totally unwarranted.

The Mumbai-based umpire has also called into question the frequency with which umpires are subjected to ridicule. ``Any commentator should be factual and unemotional and objective and not disparaging of anyone of whatever nationality he may be. Umpires are an important and necessary part of the game, but why are they treated so shabbily... it is the easiest thing in the world to call yourself an expert after the incident is viewed three times in slow motion and a decision arrived at...''

Singh also strikes one back for the umpires catching the commentary panel on the backfoot over the Sunil Joshi run out. Joshi was run out by Nicky Boje who had the ball in his hands but only had time to break the stumps with his elbow.

Maninder Singh, a first class umpire-cum-commentator himself, criticised the decision, failing to take into account the law which states that a fielder can break the stumps to run out a batsman with any part of his arm, provided the ball is in the same hand.

In Kochi, the controversy was compounded when umpire Singh turned to the third umpire to decide whether the winning hit for India had been scored with a boundary or not. The third umpire could not hear Singh on his walkie talkie over the noise in the stadium. While TV replays showed that Jacques Kallis had stopped the ball well inside the ropes, the green light was flashed from the third umpire's cabin thanks to a mix-up inside the stadium. Rather than signal a `no' to the question of a boundary with a red light and a `yes' to the four with a green, the green light was flashed as a signal for the game to proceed.

Both third umpire L.P. Verma and match referee Raman Subba Row are said to have flashed the green light to Singh; in the absence of a fixed code for the coloured lights, Singh took it as confirmation of the boundary. Subsequently, the green light has been incorporated as a signal for the field umpire to proceed with the game and a red light to signal a boundary when a question about the same is asked of the third umpire.

Umpire Singh has also complained to the Press Council over a column critical of his umpiring by journalist M.J. Akbar in the Blitz on Sunday, and also demanded an apology from the journalist.

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