I thought a great game at the MCG was marred by a couple of bad decisions. I wonder how come the indian media isn't talking about it now after making a hue and cry after sydney. They talked about umpiring decisions and ethics only when they went against india, what level of hypocrisy!!!... nobody seems to care when they benefit india. I thought the decisions wouldve changed the complexion of the match, gilchrist in the first over and sachin tendulkar going right after pathan maybe wouldve created flutters in the indian team. i wonder if the umpire rudi koertzen couldve referred sachin's decision to the third umpire when gilchrist and clark went up. it was a faint edge and sachin didn't react as though he nicked it. rudi's third bad decision in a week not to mention sangakarra's shocker at hobart during the sri lanka test series. frankly i have seen better umpiring by local umpires during the australian ODI's in india and india-pak series. maybe its time ICC reviewed the capabilities of elite panel umpires. simon taufel as usual was exceptional!!!

Cant entirely blame the umpires. Its high time cricket undergoes a change.

Either strip off the additional slow mos which a viewer can see and not the on field umpire OR have 3 challenges / innings.

Gilly knows he nicked it. Aus coach presses the red button. Third umpire over rules the decision on field.

Cricket is not the only game which suffers from an incorrect on field decision. Happens in every sport. High time cricket reduces these errors to a minimal

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Tendulkar - A gift to the game of cricket

Because the headline "umpiring mistakes cost India test match" is far more interesting to the media than "umpiring mistakes benefit team slightly".

Of course the Indian media will jump up and down when their team is effected as much as it was at Sydney (although be aware many other countries ran similar stories about that test).

Also the media only has a certain attention span for particular issues and they've done there dash on umpires for now, if they were to contiue writing stories everytime an upire got something wrong their readers/viewers/listeners would go stuff this it's getting boring and get their news from somewhere else.

i guess i agree with u on that. media is not out to there to support cricket or the cricketers, they are just out there to make money. i agree with u on that australian team wasn't affected as much at the MCG as indian team was affected in sydney, but in the shorter version a couple of decisions here or there can change the entire complexion of the game so quickly. but something really needs to be done about the standard of umpiring in the ICC elite panel. bucknor, koertzen, benson look very lacklustre. aleem dar, simon taufel and billy bowden(despite all his antics) are much better umpires, so umpires should be reprimanded for every wrong decision. for the sake of repeating myself, some local umpires in india have done a better job under pressure and deafening noise in mumbai's stadium. i know its a tough job, but they better be good(specially the 'Elite panel' with the likes of bucknor being paid an whopping USD 440 per hour.

In the West Australian newspaper, the game's coverage revolved largely around the umpiring mistakes that apparently cost us the match. Most of the back page was taken up by it. To be fair, there was also some attention given to how well the Indians played, but that was on the inside page. I suppose it's more popular with some readers to be parochial and say "we wuz robbed," than just admit that Australia lost because they were complacent and overconfident, and completely outplayed as a result.

Now let's clarify- that may have been a wrong decision, however it was not a bad one. As you say, it was an extremely faint edge which the umpire abviously didn't hear, so how can it be bad umpiring for not giving it out? I think it was Michael Slater who said that the umpires should look more at the reactions of the fielding team to help them judge their decisions, but good old Richie put a stop to that nonsense-"Every team would be out for 11!" (For the record, though, I think Slats is generally a pretty good commnetator)

Seems the pressure's also getting to Taufel, who's considering stepping down and joining the IPL:

Top umpire ready to walk - Cricket - Fox Sports

Who says there is no crisis in cricket.

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Ern

i thought he could've considered going to the third umpire when the reaction of the fielding side. i guess richie benaud was right if u gave people out based on reaction teams would be out for paltry scores, i'm not saying give it out based on reactions but be 100% certain. i wonder why a catch isn't given the same consideration as a run-out. even though some run-outs the umpires know the decision r referred to the 3rd umpire just to be sure. why cant the same be done for catches.
lbw's r different case altogether, not much can be done about them anyways unless umpires develop skills to identify inside edges. it will be sad if simon taufel does walk away, he has been a wonderful umpire and I really think ICC should change its policies so that they dont lose umpires like him, he probably needs more time at home, give him that. I dont think its the pressure of international cricket, taufel does his job with ease!!

Look, you're absolutely right, the technology should certainly be available for edges (and in my opinion, for LBWs as well). But even in those circumstances that arose with Tendulkar, I could understand even then if he hadn't gone to the third umpire, as it wasn't one of those occasions when the bat could have touched the ground, the ball could have touched the pad and the bat could have clipped the strap. Those, to my mind, are the situations when the third umpire should definitely be referred to.

It also gets ridiculous when umpires refuse to go to third umpire on close calls even on run outs and stumping and end up giving a wrong decision. I believe there should be some punishment for umpires when they just refuse to take help of technology.

Apart from that, no-ball calling should be automated. Either place cameras and allow the third umpire to call or, best of all, put sensors to detect them.

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My computer can beat me at chess.....but its no match for me at kick boxing.