Monday, January 21, 2002 Commenting on the umpiring in the first India-England one-dayer, Sanjay Manjrekar said that SK Sharma, who in effect sealed England's fate by adjudging Marcus Trescothick lbw, should not be allowed to stand in another match. I differ marginally. The question is, should Sharma have been allowed to stand in the first place?

More shocking errors have been made in international matches by more experienced umpires. Ian Robinson saved Australia the Test series against New Zealand last month with two obviously wrong decisions. Dave Orchard ruled Sourav Ganguly lbw to Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka last August even though Ganguly had taken three steps down the pitch. In the triangular tournament in Sharjah in 1999, Sachin Tendulkar was wrongly given out in two successive matches, first caught off a no-ball well above his shoulder and then lbw to a ball that pitched a foot outside the leg stump.

And this isn't the first time a visiting team has been denied victory by a home umpire. Yajurvindra Singh, now the managing director of Wisden Online India, would like Ian Botham, who was indignation personified in the commentary box on Saturday night, to remember how Botham claimed his wicket in the Oval Test in 1979.

India, chasing 438 in the last innings, had reached 410 for 4, but found themselves trying the save the game when a flurry of dubious decisions was handed out against them. Umpire David Constant ruled Gundappa Viswanath out to a bump-ball. Peter Willey, now England's most respected umpire, was the bowler and he let out only a mild query. Then Yajurvindra was given out lbw to Botham when he had actually been struck on the stomach on the front foot. India ended up seven short of what would have been a heroic and historic victory.

Even the best umpires will make mistakes, but the better ones will make fewer mistakes and will be less susceptible to pressure in tight situations. England have reason to believe that they got three wrong decisions. Of these, Nick Knight's lbw was marginal. The seam of the ball pitched on the edge of the leg-stump line and - without the TV replays - it looked a straightforward decision. The second one - Nasser Hussain's - was highly contentious, and though the ball could well have gone on to hit the stumps, only an umpire with a Hawk-Eye could have given that out. Trescothick's dismissal was blatantly unfair. It looked not out the moment you saw it, at normal speed on a 21-inch television screen. It was pathetic.

But the problem isn't so much one horrendous umpiring error as the questionable manner in which umpires are appointed for one-day matches in India. Sharma, who gave Hussain and Trescothick out, has been around for 10 years, yet this was only his 10th one-day match. He is yet to officiate in a Test, and perhaps never will. If you include the third umpire and the reserve umpire, a total of 24 umpires have been nominated for the six one-dayers against England and it's just too many. Glaringly, only one of these, V K Ramaswamy, who will officiate in Cuttack tomorrow, is an established Test umpire, and for a cricket board that takes one-day-matches so seriously, this is simply not acceptable.

The argument that more umpires need international exposure is not without merit, but it must be applied with common sense and judicious moderation. In a country of one billion people, only 20 cricketers are international class. The same criteria must be applied to international umpires. India has a pool of 70 international umpires, which is way too large. Like most official positions in Indian cricket, assignments are handed out on a zonal quota basis, which is hideous.

The international pool must be pruned to 20, purely on merit, to give more Indian umpires meaningful international exposure. They should be treated as professionals and the fees - currently Rs 25,000 (about £360) for a one-dayer - must at least be doubled. Indian cricketers are paid Rs 100,000 (about £1440) for one-day matches and there is no reason why umpires, who are every bit as crucial as players, shouldn't get at least half that.

There are two ways to look at the Calcutta gaffes. Throwing an umpire like Sharma out is only a quarter-measure. The first task before the Indian board is to ensure that only the best men get the job.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India and of Wisden Asia Cricket magazine. His column appears every Monday.

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