Neutral umpires to officiate in ATC

The technical committee of the Asian Cricket Foundation which met in Kolkata on Thursday, decided that the matches of the Asian Test Championship will be supervised by neutral umpires.

The last time the tournament was played two years ago, the umpires were from the ICC. This time, the committee decided to use one umpire from the ICC and the other from the countries playing in the championship.

"This is being done to give more exposure to the umpires in this part of the world," said Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairman of the ACF which implements the ACC programmes.

However, he informed that both the umpires would be neutral. "An India-Sri Lanka match will be conducted by an ICC umpire and one from either Pakistan or Bangladesh." The match referee will however be from the ICC.

Dalmiya also said that for all the ATC matches, members of the technical committee will be present as observers. "In the first match between India and Pakistan, Asanta de Mel will be present. In the second game between Pakistan and Bangladesh, Zaheer Abbas will don the mantle. The India-Pakistan match will be attended by Sunil Gavaskar and Gazi Ashraf Hussain of Bangladesh.

The ACF also selected three development officers to promote the game in various parts of the continent. The three are Roger Binny (India), Iqbal Sikander (Pakistan) and Rumesh Ratanayake (Sri Lanka). However, Dalmiya added that all those who had applied for the post would be used for coaching. It should be mentioned here that from India, Ashok Malhotra, WV Raman and Madanlal had applied for the post.

Amongst the other decisions taken was the tie up between the ACC and the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute to prepare grounds and wickets in various parts of the Asia. A workshop for coaches and physical trainers will also be conducted. "The coaches workshop will be conducted by people from Australia," said Dalmiya. He also added that Dr. Vece Paes has been appointed by the ICC to look after the physical training and the sports medicine aspect. He will also train the physical trainers, he added.