Aussies pushing for umpiring reforms to cut down on howlers

MELBOURNE, February 7: With the dwindling umpiring standards becoming a major concern for the players, Australia would be pushing for better training and more pay for on-field officials besides asking for an expansion of the 10-member elite panel.
According to a report in 'The Daily Telegraph', the Australians are discontented with the current level of umpiring, which caused an ugly furor during the Test series against India.
West Indian veteran Steve Bucknor had to be removed after committing several howlers that dealt telling blows to India during the series.
"The Plummeting standards of world umpiring have become an urgent concern and Australia is pushing for the expansion of the 10-member elite panel to ease the workload," the report stated.
The Aussie players reportedly want to have their home-grown world's best umpire Simon Taufel, 37, in their matches but the neutral umpires policy has been coming in the way.
"Australia's leading Test cricketers also have concerns they never get to play under Taufel, clearly the world's top umpire, because of the requirement for neutral umpires in all Tests," the report said.
The report also said Australia is concerned about the amount of workload that the umpires have to cope with and wants more recruitments to address the matter,
Dodgy umpiring once again became a talking point here after Indian batsman Rohit Sharma was adjudged caught behind by South African Rudi Koertzon during the ongoing tri-series match against Sri Lanka. Replays clearly showed that the batsman had not nicked the ball.