Bengal umpires to officiate matches in England

Five umpires from Calcutta will be leaving for England to supervise cricket matches there. This was disclosed by international umpire Sekhar Choudhury in Calcutta on Tuesday. Ten umpires from the city had appeared in an examination conducted by The Scorers and Umpires Association of England in April this year. Of them five have qualified. However, there is a story behind this new development.

In 1997, a body called the Umpires of Cricket Association of Bengal was formed. Representatives of the this body, including its secretary Choudhury had met the President of the CAB Jagmohan Dalmiya to discuss certain proposals. Amongst them were better training facilities for umpires, a good pay structure for supervising local games and proper security. However, after Dalmiya instructed the other office bearers of the association to look into the proposals nothing was done. Umpires even today get a paltry amount of Rs 150 for conducting first division matches. Inspite of repeated requests the amount has not been raised.

In these circumstances, Choudhury wrote a letter last year to the Scores and Umpires Association of England exploring the possibility of supervising matches there. "This year, they sent a questionnaire by post and 10 umpires appeared for the exams. We have received imformation that five have passed. Our association is planning to sponsor these five for the first year at least."

According to information available from the Umpires' Association, the five will each get approximately Rs 5,000 for every match they will supervise in the minor leagues. Their performance will be judged by the captains of the teams and a report will be submitted to the Scorers and Umpires Association. If the supervision is satisfactory, they will be given the opportunity of officiating in county matches. Therefore, a situation is not far away when one might see an umpire from Bengal supervising a match between Kent and Lancashire.