Koertzen says sorry to Kumar

[161]

Koertzen says sorry to Kumar

Peter English in Hobart

November 20, 2007



Rudi Koertzen apologised to Kumar Sangakkara for the mistake that prevented the batsman from reaching a seventh double-century and extinguished the slim chance Sri Lanka had of levelling the series in Hobart. Sangakkara, who swept to 192 in a brutal and beautiful innings, missed a pull shot off Stuart Clark and was hit on the shoulder and helmet before the ball floated towards Ricky Ponting at second slip.

The two noises convinced the Australians to appeal and Sangakkara angled his head in disbelief when the decision came. He stood his ground briefly before walking off in disappointment, but exchanged back-slaps with Koertzen after the 96-run defeat.

"Rudi came and said sorry to him," Mahela Jayawardene said. "But that's it. Kumar being Kumar was fine with it. He was very disappointed at the particular moment, but when you sit back after half an hour, you know it's a mistake made by a human and that's it."

Sangakkara's bat was a long way from the ball when it hit his shoulder, but Ponting said he was certain it was out. "We all reacted on the two noises we heard at the time," Ponting said. "It sounded like it was either glove or bat and up into his helmet. As we all know, things happen pretty quickly on the field, especially when there's a bouncer being bowled to a batsman like that."

It was the second contentious catching decision of the match involving Sangakkara. In the first innings he edged to Michael Hussey in the gully, but was ruled not out by the third umpire. Ponting, who has given up trying to set up an international honesty system on catches, said the low-to-the-ground takes should always be judged by the on-field officials.

"The other captains wanted to have the replay referral system, which I don't think is right because as we've seen in this game, 100% of them are given not out," he said. "I think there's only been one that's been given to the third umpire that's been given out and I don't think that's right because then you will get batsmen just standing there all the time. That is not what the game is all about."

Despite Ponting's push for a deal on unclear low catches to uphold the spirit of the game, Australia's fielders did not attempt to reverse incorrect "out" decisions by the umpires during the series. When it comes to ruling on whether the batsmen hit the ball they believe the official's decision is final. "The umpire gave it out, that's what happened today," Ponting said. "There was no dispute over the catch."

Peter English is the Australasian editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

[161]

Is this the new trend in umpiring .. saying sorry after u make a "mistake" ?

Well I think it's about time the ICC preempt such scenarios by instituting a referral system.

[Momo]

Originally Posted by kashif77 Is this the new trend in umpiring .. saying sorry after u make a "mistake" ? Well I think it's about time the ICC preempt such scenarios by instituting a referral system.

This saying sorry circus was started by our very own hero when he appologized to Tendulkar.

[TaZ]

Another umpiring mistakes which ruins a match/test/series

[TaZ]

Another umpiring mistake which ruins a match/test/series

[kablooee87]

Originally Posted by kashif77 Is this the new trend in umpiring .. saying sorry after u make a "mistake" ? Well I think it's about time the ICC preempt such scenarios by instituting a referral system.

A few months ago I would have tipped the referral system to be in international cricket within 1 or 2 years. But if I remember correctly the ECB has officially scraped the system haven't they? I know the ECB and ICC are different entities but it would've helped if the trial was deemed successful.

[alexjohn_tcr]

Yuvraj was given out the same way in the 5th ODI. I dont think any umpires apologised to him. He was fined instead

[Fish]

Originally Posted by TaZ Another umpiring mistakes which ruins a match/test/series

Dont forget the night before sanga was given not out LBW when he was out. It is a shame he got out the way he did but he also benifitted from poor umpiring.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by TaZ Another umpiring mistake which ruins a match/test/series

Another thing you fail to realise is that SL only took 7 wickets in this test match.

[skr30]

SL winning was a long shot but something needs to be done. Every other game has embraced new technology but cricket seems to love controversies in the name of tradition.

[swaziboy]

whats the point now....
somone missed out on a double ton
and god knows what
u never know
they might havw just won the match

aussies always get away with it

i remember this one match in aus where wasim n co set 300-400 to win
and aus won that match with gilly who was caught and umps still never gave him out
i think langer n gilly hit tons n won aus the match


pak would hav won that match had it not been for the umpring
in this case sanga's decision might have made that little bit of difference
who knows....

[Megadeth]

If one needs to do away with these 'human errors'..the 'something that needs to be done' would definitely by the usage of just one umpire and that would be the third umpire with al the hightech 'snickographs' and 'ultra slow cams' etc ..every single delivery would be monitored from the 'control room' from the moment the bowler runs in for delivery..analyzing his bowling jump @ the crease for no balls, checking the angle on his delivery action...to the point where the batsman neogtiates the delivery...fielders taking the catch...everything will be "electronicized'..

[Easa]

Rudi is quite honestly, a crap umpire. Its not about bias or racism, its just incompetance. I suppose its right that he's apologized for that shocker but why be that incompetant in the first place? Better to not make any mistakes then make absolute shockers and apologize later. Human error happens but not with such regularity.

[JustAnotherFan]

Originally Posted by Easa Rudi is quite honestly, a crap umpire. Its not about bias or racism, its just incompetance. I suppose its right that he's apologized for that shocker but why be that incompetant in the first place? Better to not make any mistakes then make absolute shockers and apologize later. Human error happens but not with such regularity.

Well said, Easa. He makes too many mistakes and shouldn't be there.

[DHONI183]

Thank you Rudi . Now that you have apologized Kumar won´t have a sleepless night .

Utter rubbish! This seems to be a new trend to say 'sorry' after every poor decision .

[Geordie Ahmed]

Cricket should use Technology where possible - batsmen and bowlers should have the right to have decisions referred to the 3rd umpire.

Its not a suprise that Ponting is against Technology, thats cos his team benefits from having "incompetent" umpires.

I cudnt care less that it takes away the human element as some people like to argue, i want cr@p decisions to stop and technology is a tool that can go some way to preventing that from happening

[Raz]

Nice one Rudi, although it doesn't quite turn the clock back. In fact why must you apologise for your incompetency? Better to become the official ass-licker for the Australian team, I'm sure the 3 network will sponser you quite handsomely.

If you don't like this idea (don't have a clue why you wouldn't) and are keen on apologies then why not apologise to us for the countless mistakes you have made against us. Oh and the other teams that fell victim to your disgraceful umpiring, say sorry to them like a good boy.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Originally Posted by Raz Nice one Rudi, although it doesn't quite turn the clock back. In fact why must you apologise for your incompetency? Better to become the official ass-licker for the Australian team, I'm sure the 3 network will sponser you quite handsomely. If you don't like this idea (don't have a clue why you wouldn't) and are keen on apologies then why not apologise to us for the countless mistakes you have made against us. Oh and the other teams that fell victim to your disgraceful umpiring, say sorry to them like a good boy.

isnt he that already courtesy of the many decisions in their favour

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Geordie Ahmed isnt he that already courtesy of the many decisions in their favour

Ah but its unofficial at the moment, its needs to made all official with a ceremony and given a t-shirt to wear.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Originally Posted by Raz Ah but its unofficial at the moment, its needs to made all official with a ceremony and given a t-shirt to wear.

true say - lets not forget the badge and hat tho

[KB]

It was the second contentious catching decision of the match involving Sangakkara. In the first innings he edged to Michael Hussey in the gully, but was ruled not out by the third umpire. Ponting, who has given up trying to set up an international honesty system on catches, said the low-to-the-ground takes should always be judged by the on-field officials. "The other captains wanted to have the replay referral system, which I don't think is right because as we've seen in this game, 100% of them are given not out," he said. "I think there's only been one that's been given to the third umpire that's been given out and I don't think that's right because then you will get batsmen just standing there all the time. That is not what the game is all about." Despite Ponting's push for a deal on unclear low catches to uphold the spirit of the game, Australia's fielders did not attempt to reverse incorrect "out" decisions by the umpires during the series. When it comes to ruling on whether the batsmen hit the ball they believe the official's decision is final. "The umpire gave it out, that's what happened today," Ponting said. "There was no dispute over the catch."

It seems fairly inconsistent for the Australians to argue that batsmen should wait for the umpire to make the decision rather than walk when they know it is out, yet at the same time proclaim that for low to ground catches, the batsman should take the fielder's word!

According to this logic you should stand your ground if the catch is taken waist high, but walk off it is taken low to the ground!

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by kablooee87 A few months ago I would have tipped the referral system to be in international cricket within 1 or 2 years. But if I remember correctly the ECB has officially scraped the system haven't they? I know the ECB and ICC are different entities but it would've helped if the trial was deemed successful.

Teams were allowed up to three challenges in televised matches but no decisions were reversed all season so the experiment has been dropped....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cric...es/7065229.stm

[jaspa888]

Interesting Aussies now advocate honesty.

When Waugh became captain and told his team never to walk, Gilchrist lost the VC bacause he said he would continue to walk.

[OZGOD]

As long as humans continue to officiate in games, we will continue to have human errors, simple as that. Players make errors when playing - we see dropped catches, edges, LBWs etc. The problem is that while players make mistakes in the course of playing (and we vilify them for it) we are expecting umpires to be perfect, and they won't be unless we refer everything to technology the way that the NFL does (and still they make mistakes). (Keep in mind that umpires get paid much less than the players but have to be at their best over a full five days of a Test match, doing what can be seen as a monotonous task.) The cost to referrals and electronic aids is in terms of time - things will take longer to resolve. If nobody has a problem with this, then fine - let's make everything electronic.

In fact, one of the things I've been advocating is the removal of the whole "appealing" process. Why should a fielding team have to appeal if the umpire is there? If appeals influence an umpire then cut out the appealing, and leave it solely to the umpire to make the call. And make sure that whenever the umpire is unsure about something he refers it to a TV replay, snicko, HotSpot, Hawkeye, and all the other tools that we, the viewing audience, have at our disposal on our couches at home.

Think about it - in baseball there is no appeals system - the plate umpire decides if a pitch is a strike or a ball. Interestingly though, I noticed in watching the Red Sox this year that baseball umpires make a ton of mistakes in terms of this strike zone and many times batters are struck out to pitches that should have been balls. I suppose the strike zone in baseball is much smaller and harder to police despite their best efforts.

That said, the decision was a shocker, and cruelly robbed Sanga of a century, and also took away from what was a pretty good OZ effort to try and stem the tide at that point. Anytime an umpiring error happens it takes away from genuine work being done on the field. But that's life - as Fish said Sanga benefited from a decision that went his way the other day. This one had a bigger impact than that one, but we tend to remember the bigger impact ones and forget about the lesser impact ones.

Also - who will we replace Rudi with? One of the two non-elite panel umps from the Pak-India ODI series? Taufel and Dar are already overworked and cannot stand in every Test.

[iZeeshan]

So now umpires think that they can make all the mistakes they want and all they have to do is apologize. Pat-hetic.

[jaspa888]

Mistakes I can take as part of the game. I do not need technology if these occur infrequently, and equally for both teams.

It is outright bias I have a problem with. Neutral umpires should have sorted out this problem, but obviously not.

Umpires like Dickie Bird were crap in their old age, but equally crap for both teams. Poor decisions therefore equalled themselves out, and all the players still respected him. Even Shastri was not biased in the recent ODI series - just crap.

Unfortunately, Rudi and Hair always tended to favour one team over another, and taht is where the recriminations start.

[Saj]

Reminds me of the time that Pakistan were in the Caribbean and were robbed of a record breaking series win by Doctrove and the New Zealand umpire, I think his name was Tony Hill.

Clear bat pads and caught behinds that weren't given. Adams and Walsh saw the Windies home and the umpires at the end of the match went into the Pak changing room to apologise - I'm sure the Pak team felt much better after the umpires apologised !

[Neighbourhood policewala]

Agree with u Saj, there's no point whatsoever in the umpire apologising once the damage was done....Our cricket club was a victim of this situation this season where the umpire was due to give an LBW (if I remember right) from my bowling and bottled it. At the end of the game he came into our changing room to apologise after the batsmen had saw his team home.....nothing came close to what I wanted to do with the umps!!