Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting feels that the best umpires should be allowed to officiate the games than the neutral ones. In the latest interview with the official channel of Cricket Australia, Ponting shared his views on the same. He said that he will consider his point for the inclusion of best umpires in the next MCC meet.
“I would like to think the game has come far enough now for the game to not have neutral umpires. There”s been a lot of negativity about the DRS over the years, but we”re pretty lucky that we had it last night “, said Punter.
The opening day of Ashes saw several umpiring errors from Aleem Dar and Wilson. David Warner was given out on a ball which literally missed the stumps. If Warner would have opted for DRS, then things wouldn”t have been the same for the Kangaroos.
“It”s already been spoken about a lot among the players. If it’s not brought up (at that next MCC meeting), I”ll make sure it’s added to the agenda. Surely (English umpire)Richard Kettleborough and the like would want to be umpiring the best series. The best umpires can end up missing out on all the big tournaments”, said Ricky Ponting.
Last time during the MCC meet several points were discussed considering the safety of players. Calling-off the game under extreme weather conditions, helmet design was the main point. We will have to wait and see if Ponting as a member, can bring this to the notice of the committee.
Umpiring errors under criticism
The umpiring blunders came into the spotlight right from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Few decisions even changed the course of the game and the fans were frustrated regarding the same. It will be interesting to note if these issues will be considered in days to come.