Responsibility of Players and Umpires
In cricket a player is accountable to everybody. The most common categories to whom a player is accountable are:-
1) Selectors:- Players are picked up by the selection committees of their respective countries. As such it is the players responsibility to give good performances and justify the faith the selectors had in them at the time of picking the team.
2) Countrymen:- A player carries the expectations of millions of country, viewers who spend hours on the television forsaking their work and the paying public. A player represents the pride of his countrymen.
3) Spirit of the Game:- A player is expected to play in the spirit of the game. He has to display a sense of sportmanship. He is supposed to be a good ambassador of the country he represents. He has also to a role model for younger generation, children and aspiring cricketers not just in his country, but across the world.
Role of Umpires:- Many of us do not give much importance to the role of umpires. Umpires have an equal impact on the game if not more. An umpire can make or break a player's career. An umpire can even change the course of a match. If a umpire makes a bad decision it could ruin the players career if he is a fringe player. The selectors only look at a player's stats as they do not go into the details of how he was given out as to whether he got a bad decision or not. Similarly if the decision goes against the main player of the team it could change the course of the match. An umpire's wrong decision could even provoke dissent from a player, which in turn could earn the player a penalty from the match referee in the form or reduction in match fees or suspension of a few matches and in some cases under both of them.
It is high time that ICC lays down rules for umpires to respect the Spirit of the Game, as much as it is applicable to the players, because the fate of a player or a match is decided in the same measure as is decided by the player.
Regards
Satish
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.