Best Finger Forward, says Clive Lloyd (14 Aug 1998)

14 August 1998

Lloyd: Best Finger Forward

The Barbados Nation

West Indies manager Clive Lloyd is calling for the best umpires to be used for Test matches and not necessarily umpires from every Test-playing country.

Speaking yesterday morning on the television programme Wake Up, Caribbean, Lloyd said it was important to have the best in the business officiating so as to eliminate any wranglings by players.

"It's important that we do that (have the best officials in charge) so we won't have anybody saying: 'We had the worse part of the decisions,'" the former West Indies captain told host Julian Rogers.

Lloyd was speaking in light of recent problems in England, where South African players felt cheated by decisions which went in the home team's favour. England won the tough five-match series 2-1.

The International Cricket Council rule is that two officials from the nine countries form part of the international pool, from which a neutral umpire joins a home umpire for Test matches.

He noted the game should be grooming younger umpires as the job is becoming more and more demanding.

"When you retire from cricket, you retire because your legs go and your eyes go but then fellows become umpires," said Lloyd who celebrates his 54 birthday in two weeks.

"With umpiring, I don't think your eyes get better as you get older. They have to start thinking of getting younger umpires and recruiting the best instead of two from each country."

Lloyd also noted that the captains should get in on the act of grading the umpires. He mentioned that at their annual meeting at Lord's, the captains can decide to promote or demote an umpire based on his performance.

The former left-hander, who scored over 7 500 runs in his 110 Tests, also touched on the West Indies' upcoming tour of South Africa.

Having watched the opponents in England recently, Lloyd said: "They are a very good outfit. They've got two of the best fast bowlers in the world, but I think it should be a very good series for us."

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)