LONDON: England captain Graham Gooch has urged cricket’s rulers to introduce a sin-bin in a bid to help umpires keep the peace on the field.
The Essex batsman made his call because of the increasing number of clashes between players and officials.
“It’s time umpires had more teeth” he said. “Why should they have to put up with so much aggro and abuse?
“If they could dish out instant retribution a short sharp punishment like sending off the offender the trouble would soon stop.
“What can an umpire do at the moment? Report the player. That doesn’t defuse the situation or solve the immediate problem.
“If a player misbehaves the umpire should have the power to send him off for a time. Playing with 10 men especially if you’ve lost one of your front-line bowlers would soon cutout the nonsense.”
Gooch also pressed the International Cricket Conference to consider using three umpires a day in test matches instead of two in an attempt to eradicate errors.
“Umpires are under tremendous pressure these days even without players abusing them” he explained.
“Players are remembered for great innings bowling performances and catches but umpires have to live with their mistakes.
“It would support a move to use three umpires each doing two sessions a day. That would help stop the pressure building up. There’s always a reserve umpire present anyway.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 3, 1991
