'The umpires’ association often gives us a hard time'

Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu, in charge of BCB's umpires' committee for the last three years, in an interview with The Daily Star's Samsul Arefin Khan, expressed his concern regarding the recent increase in code of conduct violations by players in the ongoing National Cricket League while also admitting umpiring errors that have led to such a rise. Here are the excerpts of the interview:

The Daily Star (DS): The violation of code of conduct has increased at an alarming rate this year. What's the view of the board regarding this?

Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu (IAM): We're doing two things to address this. Firstly, the match referees are implementing the code of conducts, which we are sending to the tournament committee. Secondly, a committee oversees and analyses the players' reactions. To give everyone a fair chance, we are reviewing these matters and we are making a report by ourselves. After seeing on-field decisions from one or two cameras, we are trying to conclude whether the decision was correct or not, or whether it was a bad decision. We are making an internal report regarding these matters.

When any kind of controversy occurs, we are sitting out the concerned umpires from officiating in the next match or matches. However, the reaction from players, especially the senior ones, in many cases are unacceptable. They know that there is no DRS in domestic cricket. DRS is very expensive and there is no technician in Bangladesh for it. And we also can't use our best umpires in every domestic match. We have to use our existing resources. The number of code of conduct violations have increased a lot but a big number of those violations have come from those who are playing for the national team or represented the national team in the past. I think the behaviour of senior players is sending a wrong message to the junior players.

DS: The demerit points of NCL, BCL only last for a year and don't carry over to other domestic tournaments. Do you have any plan to add those points to other competitions such as DPL as well?

IAM: We should look into the practicality. The ICC has a timeframe for demerit points. For the next NCL, I will propose to have demerit points implemented across all domestic tournaments.

To be honest, over the last three years the umpires have improved a lot. I won't say we have reached the summit but probably, we have moved to 25 percent from five percent five years ago. We still have 75 percent scope for improvement. We are looking into other options to reduce the number of errors. We are increasing training facilities and bringing in new umpires. We are also looking into increasing technical aids as well.

DS: Are you facing any issues regarding poor umpiring from the umpires' association?

IAM: Definitely there are some interferences. The association often gives us a hard time. They always talk about experienced umpires. For this, we are trying to include new umpires. When competition rises, everyone's performance will rise. Since the new president took charge, we have increased remuneration of umpires by 30 percent in all domestic competitions. We are also thinking about taking assistance from the ICC. Plus, we want to use retired umpires and beef up grading and training of our umpires. We are doing all these for the betterment of the umpires. But sometimes there are hindrances from the umpires' association. The association should join hands with the umpires' committee and work for the betterment of umpires. They should understand that we are not their opposition, instead we are an extended arm of theirs. However, I can say that there is less pressure now on umpires compared to previous times.

DS: There are analysts to analyse players' performance in all NCL matches. Are they analysing umpires' performances too?

IAM: This is also a part of the improvement. We haven't taken any underperformer from last season. We are giving them an opportunity to learn more and come back again. Umpires need to be both physically and mentally fit. We are also preparing guideline for the umpires, setting specific criteria for become a Grade A umpire.

DS: What are you doing with underperforming umpires?

IAM: If you are making too many mistakes, there will be consequences. Those whom we feel are not competent enough to conduct NCL, BCL and DPL matches, are being sent to third division matches. We are giving them opportunity to start from there and this is the policy.