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Pre-dominance of incompetent English umpires on the ICC Elite Umpires Panel

Skyliner

International 12th Man
4 English umpires on the panel; Pakistan only has one, NZ only has one, Sri Lanka only has one, India only has one, South Africa only has one, West Indies have none, Zimbabwe have none. Australia have 3.

So are English umpires head and shoulders above umpires from the rest of the cricketing world? No, no they are not. They are over re-presented on the panel. Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth are not up to it. They've been the curse that has haunted NZ all summer. The Brisbane and Perth test's were marred by howlers, and the blame and derision was largely heaped on BMac for supposedly using his reviews rashly. On to Adelaide where Llong was this time up in the 3rd Umpires room presiding over one of the worst howlers seen for many a decade when he inexplicably failed to give Nathan Lyon out despite clear hot-spot evidence.

Now Illingworth has popped up again to turn the 1st test NZ vs Australia at the Basin Reserve into a shambles. Two incorrect no-balls calls when the bowler has a huge part of his heel behind the line are inexcusable, and one of them resulting in a catastrophic howler that has cast a pall over the test and reduced it to a farce.
When sport becomes farce, people lose interest in it. Illingworth's eyes are shot. He can't tell where a bowlers foot is in relation to the crease.

Then we have another Englishman, Umpire Gould, who seems to like to be a celebrity and make himself the object of attention. He turned the Mitchell Marsh incident in the 3rd Chappell Hadlee ODI into a farce by taking a month of Sundays to go upstairs, blathering away to the NZers and the 3rd Umpire for what seemed an eternity when he should have made a quicker and clearer decision on the way forward. As he dawdled, temperatures on the field rose.

Llong and Illingworth are incompetent, or something. They need to be removed from the Elite Panel forthwith. If you can't make clear-cut calls correctly, how the hell can it be said that you are an 'Elite' umpire.
 

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Knew there was a reason Kane Williamson and the Kiwis weren't winning everything, this must be it.

Well done OP:detective:thumbs_up
 

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Gould's celebrity umpiring status is as nothing next to Billy Bowden's efforts at self promotion over the years.
 

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
England should have 4 umpires on the panel, while 7 other nations between them only have 5(?)

You don't think Llong and Illngworth are incompetent(?)
No - I'll take the best umpires regardless of nationality, thanks. And all umpires have made howlers in the past, this isn't a new thing, it's just shown up more glaringly by the ever improving state of technology. The umpires are constantly rated against their peers, and if they aren't performing then they will get replaced by someone from the tier below who is better.

Now, I'm all sure we'd love to see more Asad Rauf, but that ship has sadly sailed.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Llong and Illingworth aren't any worse than the rest of the panel, and when you always think all the umpires are ****, it's probably just harder than you think.
 

Day Man

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
No - I'll take the best umpires regardless of nationality, thanks. And all umpires have made howlers in the past, this isn't a new thing, it's just shown up more glaringly by the ever improving state of technology. The umpires are constantly rated against their peers, and if they aren't performing then they will get replaced by someone from the tier below who is better.

Now, I'm all sure we'd love to see more Asad Rauf, but that ship has sadly sailed.
Good post spoiled by a **** straw man at the end.
 

Day Man

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
8 Big three umpires and 4 small seven umpires in the mix. Sounds about right. The small seven need to up their game instead of whining about everything.
 

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