ID :
36162
Wed, 12/17/2008 - 17:51
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/36162
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ICC tells umpires to crack down on slow over-rates, sledging
Dubai, Dec 17 (PTI) The International Cricket Council has
asked referees and umpires to be "assertive and proactive" in
dealing with on-field sledging and slow over-rates to ensure
that the "feel-good factor" from the India-England Chennai
Test remains.
ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat, in a letter to the match
officials, has asserted that "players must play their parts"
as well.
"Lorgat identified slow over-rates and verbal abuse as
two key areas that must be kept in check for cricket to
maintain its feel-good factor over the coming months," the ICC
said in a statement.
"He said players, and especially captains, also bore a
major responsibility to ensure the game was played in the
right spirit and at the right pace," the statement read.
Lorgat lauded the spirit in which India and England
played the Chennai Test, which the former won after a see-saw
battle.
"After the recent Test match in Chennai there is a real
feel-good factor about the game, and rightly so, said Lorgat.
"It's great that the game is in the news for all the
right reasons and I want that to carry on now we've moved into
what is traditionally the busiest period in the cricketing
calendar," he added.
"That is why I have written to all of the Emirates ICC
match referees and umpires urging them to be assertive and
proactive in dealing with slow over-rates and verbal abuse."
Lorgat said all the member boards had identified slow
over-rates and sledging as the problems most likely to affect
the game's progress.
"At the recent ICC Chief Executives' Committee meeting,
representatives of all the ten ICC Full Members agreed these
were two significant issues for the game moving forward.
"Verbal abuse and slow over-rates have the potential to
impact negatively on the way the game is perceived. We have
seen that in the past and we must do all we can to ensure that
doesn't happen in the future," he said.
"Both issues need to be strongly managed and the ICC is
now looking at options to encourage better over-rates and
strengthened sanctions against offending teams," he added.
Lorgat said as cricket widens its horizon and reaches out
to previously unexplored audience, the game needs to ensure a
squeaky clean image.
"Cricket's profile is high and perhaps it has never been
higher. And with 2009, the ICC's Centenary year, including the
ICC World Twenty20 for men and women, the ICC Champions
Trophy, the ICC World Cup Qualifier, the ICC Women's World Cup
and a host of outstanding bilateral series, that situation is
unlikely to change over the next 12 months," he said.
"With that profile comes a responsibility on the part of
everyone to ensure cricket remains the great sport that the
players, match officials and spectators made it in Chennai
this week.
"If everyone can meet that responsibility and ensure our
great sport is played in a great spirit then cricket will
continue to grow stronger," he added. PTI
asked referees and umpires to be "assertive and proactive" in
dealing with on-field sledging and slow over-rates to ensure
that the "feel-good factor" from the India-England Chennai
Test remains.
ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat, in a letter to the match
officials, has asserted that "players must play their parts"
as well.
"Lorgat identified slow over-rates and verbal abuse as
two key areas that must be kept in check for cricket to
maintain its feel-good factor over the coming months," the ICC
said in a statement.
"He said players, and especially captains, also bore a
major responsibility to ensure the game was played in the
right spirit and at the right pace," the statement read.
Lorgat lauded the spirit in which India and England
played the Chennai Test, which the former won after a see-saw
battle.
"After the recent Test match in Chennai there is a real
feel-good factor about the game, and rightly so, said Lorgat.
"It's great that the game is in the news for all the
right reasons and I want that to carry on now we've moved into
what is traditionally the busiest period in the cricketing
calendar," he added.
"That is why I have written to all of the Emirates ICC
match referees and umpires urging them to be assertive and
proactive in dealing with slow over-rates and verbal abuse."
Lorgat said all the member boards had identified slow
over-rates and sledging as the problems most likely to affect
the game's progress.
"At the recent ICC Chief Executives' Committee meeting,
representatives of all the ten ICC Full Members agreed these
were two significant issues for the game moving forward.
"Verbal abuse and slow over-rates have the potential to
impact negatively on the way the game is perceived. We have
seen that in the past and we must do all we can to ensure that
doesn't happen in the future," he said.
"Both issues need to be strongly managed and the ICC is
now looking at options to encourage better over-rates and
strengthened sanctions against offending teams," he added.
Lorgat said as cricket widens its horizon and reaches out
to previously unexplored audience, the game needs to ensure a
squeaky clean image.
"Cricket's profile is high and perhaps it has never been
higher. And with 2009, the ICC's Centenary year, including the
ICC World Twenty20 for men and women, the ICC Champions
Trophy, the ICC World Cup Qualifier, the ICC Women's World Cup
and a host of outstanding bilateral series, that situation is
unlikely to change over the next 12 months," he said.
"With that profile comes a responsibility on the part of
everyone to ensure cricket remains the great sport that the
players, match officials and spectators made it in Chennai
this week.
"If everyone can meet that responsibility and ensure our
great sport is played in a great spirit then cricket will
continue to grow stronger," he added. PTI
