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In what can be considered as a biased decision by the game's governing body International Cricket Council (ICC), no Pakistani umpire will be included in the eight-man elite panel of umpires.

Highly placed sources confirmed that while no Pakistani umpire would stand in Tests until 2004, there would be two nominees from Pakistan in the 25-man panel that would supervize one-day internationals. According to the latest decision, both third country umpires will stand in Tests from April 2002 with the matches to be shared by umpires in the elite panel. In the one-dayers, there will be one local umpire who has to be in the 25-man panel.

The elite panel, which is being selected by ICC's new chief executive Malcolm Speed and chairman of ICC's cricket committee Sunil Gavaskar, will be given a two-year contract with a retainer according to the standard of living in the umpire's country but equivalent match fee.

The Pakistan cricket officials said their umpires would not be included in the elite panel because of their poor ratings awarded by the captains and the match referees. However, extensive electronic coverage has exposed that the standard of umpiring was on a decline. Even the so-called best umpires were making glaring mistakes.

The Old Trafford Test Englishman David Shepherd and West Indian Eddie Nicholls committed so many blunders and were involved in not calling Pakistani and English bowlers for over-stepping. To rub salt to the wound, four English batsmen were dismissed on what should have been called no-balls. Pakistani umpires Mian Aslam and Riazuddin also committed some errors in the home series against England last year. But if Shepherd can be retained in the elite panel and his decisions can be labelled as human errors, why shouldn't the Pakistani umpire get the same benefit and equal treatment.

Aslam, since being nominated in the ICC panel of umpires, has yet to get an overseas posting while Riazuddin has supervized only two Tests and a triangular one-day series in Singapore. It is time that the Pakistan cricket officials put their foot down and use all their resources to stop Australians and Englishmen from enforcing their monopoly in the elite panel of umpire or for that matter dicatating the game.

© Dawn