Dalmiya facing umpires revolt in Bengal

Jagmohan Dalmiya is passing through tough times. After the revolt he has been facing from some of his associates at the Cricket Association of Bengal, he now has to face the music from the umpire's body in Calcutta.

The Umpires of the Cricket Association of Bengal have decided to work independently irrespective of whether the CAB provides them with funds or not. The first aim of this Association is to build an academy for themselves where the umpires can be educated and the experienced officials updated with regular refresher courses. Talking at the Police Club on Friday evening, international umpire Sekhar Choudhury said, ``We had sat down with CAB officials in July 1999. We had voiced our grievances and Mr. Dalmiya himself had stated that the problems would be solved. But during the Last one year, nothing has been done. So we have decided to fend for ourselves.''

The umpires themselves have a few more complaints. Amongst them is the paltry match fee that they get for conducting matches run by the CAB. Choudhury said, ``The payment for us is Rs 140, Rs 100 and Rs 75 according to the gradation that we have. There are no benefits for us. Against this backdrop, people are not very keen to take up umpiring. So we have decided to build a fund of our own. Once we have that, we will provide for medical check up to the 100-odd umpires registered with our association.''

What is praiseworthy is that this association has decided to send 10 umpires to England every year to conduct matches. This year itself five umpires were scheduled to travel to England to supervise matches in the various leagues. However, the Association dropped the idea, simply because of shortage of funds. ``The problem is that we have to bear our own expenses. The MCC would be paying each umpire 75 pounds for each match,'' said Choudhury. ``If the umpires had gone now, the number of matches that they would have got would have been very nominal. So this year, we have dropped the idea. But next year, we would certainly send 10 umpires to England.''

Inspite of being critical about the treatment that is meted out to the umpires in Bengal, the Association does not want to break its ties with the CAB immediately. ``At the moment, we do not want to take the attitude of rebels. However, if the need arises, I do not rule out the possibility of an Umpires Association of Bengal,'' said Choudhury. However, he agrees that the step will be taken only if the situation really deteriorates. ``We cannot do without the game,'' he said. ``And for that matter, we do not want the game to suffer. But unless our requests are looked into, we have to take a firm step. We have to look after ourselves if nobody cares for us.''

The Association has already arranged for a fund raising night on July 28 with some of the leading vocalists of Bengal. At the same time, national selector Ashok Malhotra, Indian wicketkeeper Saba Karim and all rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla have agreed to participate in a chat show the same evening to liven up the proceedings.