TV crews doctor images: Bucknor

Port of Spain (Trinidad), May 7
Even as the ICC is keen to extend the role of technology in the game, ICC Elite Panel umpire Steve Bucknor has alleged that TV production crews doctor images to show umpires in poor light and favour popular batsmen.

In a startling revelation, Bucknor accused television companies of misusing technology which, he said, was creating mistrust between players and umpires.

“It has been known to happen where the technology has been used to make umpires look bad.

“Mats (the line graphic used to adjudge leg before decisions) have been moved, balls have disappeared, ball hitting the bat and only coming up into the fielder’s hands, but between the bat and the hand, no ball is found and you are told, ‘Sorry, we don’t have that clip, we can’t show it’,” he was quoted as saying by the media here.

“It has happened. I’ve been in a game when it has happened,” said Bucknor, who has stood in a world record 111 Tests and four World Cup finals.

“Sometimes nothing is shown because the batsman was a key batsman and getting out at that stage would have made life very difficult for that team.

“It all depends on who is operating the technology. I have been told that this ball is the one with which the batsman got out, but the one that is being shown is not the same one he got out with.

“It has been known to happen. When these things are happening, it makes life extremely difficult for the umpires. Who do you trust from there on you don’t know,” he was quoted as saying in Trinidad and Tobago Express.

Bucknor’s stinging remarks come a day after the International Cricket Council’s Cricket Committee recommended that teams be allowed appeal to the third umpire three times in an innings if they were not satisfied with the on-field umpire’s decision.

The recommendations, if approved at the ICC Chief Executives’ meeting at London in July, would be implemented on a trial basis at the Champions Trophy in India in October this year.

Bucknor, however, admitted that there is a place for technology in the game and would like to see “a little bit more”.

“In the beginning of my career, umpires were trusted. When umpires said not out, the man was trusted, so they would say he is a good umpire and nobody questioned him.

“Today, technology shows up his mistakes, and makes life a little bit difficult for umpires, especially when it has been known to happen that technology has been used to make umpires look bad,” said Bucknor, who has also officiated in 139 one-day internationals.

Bucknor also expressed disappointment that umpires were not consulted by the ICC before taking important decisions.

“I’d been happy been to be part of this change, but these things happen and we know about them happening rather than for us to say this is what we want. We’ll have to live with them.

“Whatever they say, we’ll just have to live by,” he said. — PTI

Smith steers South Africa to series win

Johannesburg, May 7
Captain Graeme Smith scored his second half century of the match to guide South Africa to victory in the third and final Test against New Zealand today.

South Africa won by four wickets an hour after tea on the third day to wrap up a 2-0 series win.

Scoreboard

New Zealand (1st innings) 119

South Africa (1st innings) 186

New Zealand (2nd innings)

Papps c Hall b Kallis 15

How lbw Steyn 4

Fleming c De Villiers b Kallis 37

Styris c&b Steyn 42

Astle c Boucher b Steyn 45

Oram c Dippenaar b Steyn 27

McCullum c Boucher b Pollock 5

Vettori c De Villiers b Hall 60

Franklin b Pollock 19

Mills not out 0

Martin c Amla b Hall 0

Extras (b-5, lb-17, nb-4, w-3) 29

Total (all out, 78.5 overs) 283

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-40, 3-82, 4-158, 5-177, 6-190, 7-239, 8-283, 9-283.

Bowling: Steyn 22-3-91-4, Ntini 17-4-44-0, Kallis 14-1-40-2, Hall 12.5-1-50-2, Pollock 13-3-36-2.

South Africa (2nd innings)

Smith c McCullum b Franklin 68

Dippenaar c McCullum b Martin 37

Amla b Mills 28

Kallis c How b Mills 13

Prince not out 43

De Villiers b Franklin 5

Boucher b Franklin 6

Pollock not out 6

Extras (b-4, lb-5, nb-3, w-2) 14

Total (6 wkts, 47.3 overs) 220

Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-130, 3-156, 4-167, 5-180, 6-202.

Bowling: Martin 17-1-64-1, Franklin 13.3-0-67-3, Mills 11-3-49-2, Oram 2-0-8-0, Styris 3-0-12-0, Vettori 1-0-11-0. — AFP, Reuters

Rotation is answer to burnout: Dhoni

New Delhi, May 7
Dashing wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said burnout of players could be countered with an effective rotation policy, which would also help in prolonging the careers of many a cricketer.

Dhoni said the Indian team management had been trying out a rotation formula to ensure the players got enough rest between matches.

“When a rotation policy is there, there is no issue of burnout. We get enough rest in between (matches) to recharge our batteries,” Dhoni told reporters after signing a one-year deal with NDTV for interviews, views and special programming.

“It (rotation) gives every player a chance to excel. If the same eleven are playing continously, the players will get burn out,” he said.

“Rotation allows other guys in the 14-15 member squad a chance to gain experience so that when the right time comes he can also excel.

“It gives much needed rest as well, particularly to fast bowlers who really need a break given the workload on them.” Dhoni did not think that rotation might lead to insecurity among players about their places in the side.

“There should not be any insecurity. It (rotation) is for their own good, for a long career you need to preserve yourself.” A day after his vice-captain Virender Sehwag disclosed that he and skipper Rahul Dravid had taken up the burnout issue with the Board, Dhoni said he was not aware of it.

“I do not know about it,” he said.

Dhoni sounded upbeat about the upcoming tour of West Indies which he said would serve as a “learning laboratory” for the team considering that the World Cup would be held in the Caribbean next year. — PTI

Saqlain’s appeal against ban rejected

Karachi, May 7
The International Olympic Committee’s arbitration court has upheld a three-match ban on Pakistan’s field hockey captain for rash onfield behavior, officials said yesterday.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland also fined captain Mohammd Saqlain $3,000 for hitting Australia player Craig Victory in a tournament match in Germany in August last year.

“The CAS has rejected Saqlain’s appeal and the decision was announced today,” Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Brigadier Musarratullah Khan told AP. Saqlain (30) will miss Pakistan’s first three matches in the Champions Trophy in Spain in July, he said.

He, however, will be eligible to play the eight-nation Azlan Shah Trophy in Kuala Lumpur next month as the event does not fall in FIH jurisdiction.

The temperamental mid-fielder has a history of violent behaviour. He was also banned for one match for hitting South Korean player Soon Hoon-yoon in the face during a tournament in Malaysia in May last year.

Saqlain was left out of the Pakistan team on the eve of the 2000 Sydney Olympics for alleged misconduct.

He was also expelled from the team by former Pakistan coach Roelant Oltmans a week before its departure for Athens Olympics in 2004 after he hit team-mate Adnan Maqsood during training.

Pakistan, a three-time Olympic and four-time world champion, has suffered a slump in the hockey standings in recent years and have lost all their titles, including the Asia champion tag in the last decade. — AFP

Jeev finishes tied second

Incheon, May 7
Jeev Milkha Singh’s scintillating 12-under 204 saw him soaring to a tied second finish, while Thailand’s rising star Prom Meesawat (15-under 201) lifted his maiden Asian Tour title at the weather-shortened $ 600,000 SK Telecom Open today.

Jeev fired a two-under 70 in the third and final round to score 68,66,70 in the three rounds of the shortened tourney to card 12-under 204 and was tied third with Lee Seong-ho (Korea), who fired an impressive 67, 67 and 70 to card the same score as Jeev’s.

The Indian, who won the Volvo China Open last month, improved his position from tied third to tied second to take home $ 53,134 as prize money.

Harmeet Kahlon finished tied 43rd and Amandeep Johl finished tied 47th, firing two-under 214 and one-under 215 respectively.

Prom, who was the joint halfway leader with Malaysia’s Iain Steel, got off the blocks with an eagle at the par-five 541-yard third hole. He then struck a birdie on the fifth before firing successive birdies on the 10th and 11th. He again fired another on the 13th.

Two bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes did not become a stumbling block for him to win his maiden title. The Thai claimed his career breakthrough with a three-day total of 15-under 201, two strokes clear of Jeev Milkha Singh who fired a 71.

Title defender Choi Kyung-ju of Korea blasted his way up the leaderboard with an impressive 65 and finished four shots behind the new champion. Meanwhile, Wie, the 16-year-old sensation who made history by making the cut two days ago, fired 69, 71, 77 and finished one-over 217 to claim the 62nd position. — UNI

SAI told to reconsider pleas of coaches
Ravi Dhaliwal

Patiala, May 7
The Chandigarh Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has directed the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to consider the representations submitted by coaches against their transfer to far-off places within 45 days. As many as 736 coaches were transferred in July last year by SAI, forcing the Punjab SAI Coaches Welfare Association (PSCWA) to move the CAT against the order.

In an order passed on May 3 by Mr J.S. Dhaliwal, Member (Judicial), the CAT has also directed SAI to dispose of the representations of the coaches by a speaking order and that too within 45 days. The CAT order further states that “in case the representations of the applicants have been misplaced or are not available with the respondents (SAI), a copy of the same shall be obtained from the applicants for compliance of orders passed by this court.”

A petition challenging the transfers was filed by Mr Ranjit Singh, general secretary of the Punjab SAI Coaches Welfare Association, in CAT in October, 2005, while the SAI had effected the transfers in July last year.

SAI sticks to stand on transfers

Despite the fact that the decision to effect large-scale transfers of SAI coaches last year had caused a furore, the SAI has justified its decision by saying that the transfers “have been made in a bona fide manner in order to meet the administrative exigencies and in the larger interest of development of sports.”

In its 21-page reply filed on May 3 in the Chandigarh Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), the SAI, through its Director (Personnel) Ms Rachna Govil, has said that “the present transfers cannot be interfered with as there are no strong and compelling grounds rendering the transfer orders improper and unjustifiable. Transfer being an incidence of government service, it is the discretion of the employer to post an employee from one place to the another.”

The reply adds that “the transfer of the coaches has been made keeping in view the objective of the SAI which is promotion of sports, improving the standard of sports and development of better and fitter sportspersons in India.”

The reply, citing Clause IX of the SAI transfer policy, says that “Coaches may be transferred within the region or from one region or institution to another at any time”. It further states that “the coaches have been transferred on objective parameters and keeping in mind the requirements under SAI schemes and recommendations of the Staff Inspection Unit (SIU). Redeployment of coaches within SAI is a dynamic exercise and this step will help in actually strengthening SAI.”

The SAI has also stated that “it is wrong to suggest that the transfer orders have been passed in an arbitrary manner and without consulting the authorities, whereas the transfers have been effected after thoroughly examining the requirements of SAI. The transfers have been made legally and in the larger interest of growth of sports in India. Any allegation of mala fide is merely a figment of the petitioner’s imagination.”

Further justifying the transfers, SAI has added that “a perusal of the transfer orders would show that most of the coaches have been re-deployed at the same stations but in SAI training centres or have been transferred to nearby places. As a result the coaches have even joined their new places of posting without any hassle.

News Analysis
Powers that be continue to control sports bodies
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 7
Despite the claims of the government regarding distancing itself from the functioning of sports bodies, including national, state and district associations, those in power continue to pull the strings to control these “democratically constituted” bodies.

The coup or revolt in the Haryana Olympic Association yesterday is an indication as to how strong is the government’s control over the parent sports body of the state.

Both Punjab and Haryana have been often accused of repeated violation of the charter of the Olympic movement which mandates that each sports body should be “democratically elected” from among units who have teams or clubs registered with it in the sport concerned.

Ever since their inception, the District Olympic Associations in Punjab and Haryana continue to be headed ex-officio by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district. This is irrespective of whether the DC has any interest in sports.

Similarly, the District Hockey Associations (DHAs) in Punjab and Haryana are headed by the district police chiefs. Intriguingly, this practice, though illegal in the Olympic parlance, has continued unchecked all these years.

That’s why the change of government in some states brings in changes in the state sports associations as well. A major vote bank in a State Olympic Association (SOA) is of District Olympic Associations (DOAs) which are headed by bureaucrats. As such, this vote bank goes with those in power and invariably works as the conclusive evidence of end of one regime or beginning of another in the SOA concerned.

But is the present system of ex-officio presidents of the district-level bodies working well to promote sports at the grassroots level? The answer is no.

A majority of DOAs, both in Punjab and Haryana, have been inactive. The holding of district sports festivals is a thing of the past. Even DHAs do not hold the district hockey championships in various age groups.

Then what is the point of keeping district-level officers as heads of these sports bodies, especially when they do not have any time for discharging their basic duty, promoting sports at the grassroots level. It appears that the present system works only to get the political bosses in the saddle to control the SOA or SSAs.

Many other states had long time ago discontinued this colonial practice of making a DC the ex-officio president of the DOA. Chandigarh is an example. The same is the case with the Chandigarh Hockey Association, whose president is elected from among the affiliated units.

Why not in Punjab and Haryana? Why should DOAs and DHAs not have democratically elected office-bearers from affiliated units? Those in support of the present system argue that unless the constitution of these bodies — DOAs and DHAs — is changed, nothing can be done. But how many of these bodies work according to their own constitutions? How many of these bodies have their regular annual general meetings, get their statements of accounts and carry out their basic mandate of holding district meets?

Others opposed to the continuation of the existing system feel that all attempts by them to get to the democratic set-up have been thwarted by those in power.