MCC WCC: ICC's Oval decision 'wrong'
Date released: 27 October 2008
Following their meeting in New Dehli the MCC World Cricket Committee (WCC) have urged the the International Cricket Council's (ICC) to revoke their decision to overturn the result of the 2006 England v Pakistan Test.
MCC World Cricket Committee met in New Delhi on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 October. It was the committee’s sixth meeting.
The Committee issued nine statements in total, detailed below:
ICC’s reversal of the 2006 Oval Test match result between England and Pakistan
Hare and Inzamam examine the ball at The Oval MCC World Cricket Committee states that the ICC was not justified in overturning the result of the 2006 Oval Test match between England and Pakistan.
The Committee urges the ICC to revoke its decision, which is contrary to the Laws of Cricket, and to confirm that the original result of the match still stands.
Law 21.10 is unequivocal. The ICC has no power under the Laws of Cricket to decide that results should be altered, whether it feels them to be "inappropriate" or otherwise.
The ICC’s decision is wrong and sets a very dangerous precedent; cricket is the worse for this decision.
Background information
On 20 August 2006, in the course of the Test match between England and Pakistan at The Oval, the umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove awarded the match to England under Law 21.3(a)(ii) of the Laws of Cricket.
This law obliges to umpires to award the match to one side if, in the opinion of the umpires, the other side refuses to play.
Law 21.10 provides as follows:
"Once the umpires have agreed with the scorers the correctness of the scores at the conclusion of the match - see Laws 3.15 (Correctness of scores) and 4.2 (Correctness of scores) - the result cannot thereafter be changed."
The Laws of Cricket include the Spirit of Cricket as a Preamble. This provides that the Spirit of the Game involves respect for the role of the umpires and the game’s traditional values.
Between 1 and 9 October 2007, the Central London Employment Tribunal heard evidence under oath from the parties’ witnesses in legal proceedings between Darrell Hair and the ICC.
The ICC’s witnesses accepted that the decision to award the match to England was entirely in accordance with the Laws of Cricket.
The Executive Board of the ICC met in the first week of July 2008, almost two years after the event.
It had before it a unanimous recommendation of the ICC Cricket Committee that the result of the match at The Oval should remain unaltered.
Contrary to that recommendation, the Executive Board decided that the result should be altered from an England win to a draw. The decision was based, officially on: "...the view that in the light of the unique set of circumstances, the original result of the match was felt to be inappropriate."
The now ICC President did not support the proposal; England abstained.
ICC governance of the game
MCC World Cricket Committee recommends that three former or current international cricketers be elected to ICC’s Executive Board to help to ensure that the interests of cricket remained paramount in the board’s decisions.
The Committee understands that commercial interests need to be recognised to finance the sport but that the interests of cricket are best served when putting cricketing considerations first.
Statement on the use of technology in cricket
Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar wait for a referred decision in Colombo MCC World Cricket Committee believes that the Umpire Decision Review System has improved player conduct and is good for the Spirit of the game.
The Committee pledged ongoing support to the ICC over its continued trials with the system and will be happy to continue to act as consultants to the ICC in this area.
The Committee was pleased to hear comments from Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, both of whom played in a recent Test series with the referral system.
Both reported that the trial led to a reduction in excessive appealing, an improved atmosphere on the field and less animosity between teams. In short, it was good for the Spirit of Cricket, a view supported by the fact that no player was reported to the match referee throughout the series.
Furthermore, the Committee was encouraged to see the process adopted for the review system ensured that the authority and dignity of the umpire was maintained.
The Committee noted that, while there will be rare occasions where technology will not be 100% accurate, its use provides an improvement to the game.
Also, it believed that the initial trial - in the Test series between Sri Lanka and India - was a success, leading to a greater number of correct decisions.
Statistics from the series show that, with the benefit of the third umpire being able to overturn incorrect decisions, the percentage ratio of correct decisions rose from 92% to 98%.
MCC will continue in its consultancy role to the ICC to monitor and improve technologies and procedures available to assist umpires.
Indeed, it was the Committee’s recommendation, 13 months ago, that prompted the ICC to implement a trial where players had limited opportunities to request a second opinion.
In addition, MCC has also been involved in measuring the accuracy of Hawk-Eye and Virtual Eye, two ball-tracking software providers.
Impact that domestic Twenty20 Leagues have on International Cricket
MCC and ICC have agreed to work together to ensure the primacy of Test cricket.
Spectators at Lord's enjoyed Middlesex's run to the Twenty20 Cup final MCC is the Guardian of the Laws and Spirit of Cricket, it acts as the game’s conscience and constantly monitors the health of the game worldwide.
The World Cricket Committee appreciates the benefits of Twenty20 cricket - such as introducing the game to a new audience and emerging markets as well as bringing in new levels of wealth into the sport.
However, the Committee also recognises that its proliferation needs to be scrutinised to avoid a potentially damaging impact on Test cricket.
In a year of rapid evolution for the game, MCC World Cricket Committee feels that the time is right to carefully analyse the effects of Twenty20 cricket to ensure that this short format of the game does not become the sole focus for players and spectators alike.
The Committee feels that Twenty20 cricket can and should successfully co-exist with 50 over and Test match formats, but not as the dominant partner to the detriment of the other two.
The Spirit of Cricket
MCC World Cricket Committee has agreed to help ICC to maintain good player conduct at all levels of the game.
Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble gave assurances that player conduct at the highest level was generally good, and with the exception of one or two high profile incidents, provides an appropriate role model for junior and amateur cricketers.
MCC will produce a positive impact DVD to highlight the good sporting conduct that exists in the professional game.
MCC and ICC will then use this DVD to show at international cricket matches, distribute to schools and clubs around the world and incorporate in coaching programmes.
Over rates in Test cricket
MCC World Cricket Committee has not noted any significant improvement in Test match over rates since its statement in May 2008 that 15 overs per hour should be the minimum requirement. It believes that in the case of slow over-rates, all players should be fined equally - not just the captain - with immediate effect.
While it will continue to monitor the situation over the coming months, the Committee feels that Test umpires, captains, managers and players need to understand better and buy into the concept of playing the game at an acceptable tempo.
With Twenty20 cricket fast-moving, Test cricket should adapt accordingly as it needs to be an attractive product to spectators. ‘Ready cricket’ should be the mantra for players, where time-consuming activities, such as team huddles and excessive delays while setting fields are eliminated from the game.
If after six months there is no improvement, MCC will work together with ICC to formulate an appropriate run-penalty for time wasting.
The decline of spin bowling around the world
Shane Warne in his pomp - but is spinning a dying art? MCC World Cricket Committee will embark on wholesale research aimed at encouraging the art of spin bowling around the world, even to the extent that this could lead to amendments of the Laws of Cricket or playing regulations.
In a discussion led by MCC President, Derek Underwood, the Committee agreed that there was a decline in spin bowling in most parts of the cricketing world. Much needed to be done to ensure that spin bowling remains an integral part of the sport.
The Committee recommended a range of research ideas that could help to encourage spin bowling:
- Setting limits on the depth and weight of cricket bats;
- The production of more spin-friendly pitches;
- Limiting the amount of time that a pitch is swept during a match; and
- Ensuring that the playing area is the maximum that the ground permits, taking into account the safety guidelines.
MCC’s research into the game
ICC has encouraged MCC to continue its trials of the pink cricket ball for potential use in day/night Test cricket.
Each member of the MCC World Cricket Committee will assist with experiments of pink balls in their respective countries to see how they behave in different conditions.
In addition, MCC will continue its research work with Imperial College London into cricket balls in general, including a white ball which retains its colour and does not need to be replaced, other coloured balls and red balls with more prominent seams.
Bad light in cricket
MCC World Cricket Committee recommends that all matters relating to the fitness of ground, weather and light should be decided solely by the umpires. This would mean that the light would never be offered to the batsmen.
Umpire Steve Bucknor checks his light-meter The Committee believes that this would result in more play and remove the element of tactical coming off for bad light.
Following a successful trial in English county cricket in 2008, which was popular with umpires and players and led to less time being lost to bad light, the Committee urges ICC to adopt this policy as a playing regulation in international cricket.
Under the regulation which was used in England, the umpires would only take the players off the field when they felt that the conditions were dangerous - simply being unsuitable was not reason enough.
Furthermore, there was a consensus that umpires should try to keep the players on the field for as long as possible, as spectators can be short-changed when play is halted in light which is only marginally poor.
Whether cricket should be an Olympic sport
MCC World Cricket Committee thinks that Twenty20 cricket should become an Olympic sport if, and only if, it was to become the pinnacle of that format of the game for players.
The Committee understands that the development of the game worldwide could be fast-tracked if Twenty20 cricket was to assume Olympic status.
However, it would be counter-productive if the Olympic competition was played in addition to twice-yearly ICC World Twenty20 events as players would not give it the concentration it would deserve.
