Talat wants players to respect umpires

Published September 17, 2006

KARACHI, Sept 16: Pakistan's new manager Talat Ali hopes to instill a new sense of discipline within the team, and will urge players to respect umpires and avoid on-field dissent.

Ali, a former International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee, replaced former Test captain Zaheer Abbas, who was sacked following last month's controversial England tour.

“I will tell the players to follow the Code of Conduct and respect the umpires,” Talat said on Saturday. “Even if there are some bad decisions leave it up to the management to handle these things.”

Critics have suggested weak management was one of the reasons the controversial Oval Test spiralled out of control.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and his players refused to resume play after tea in the fourth Test in protest at a decision by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove to penalise them five runs for ball tampering.

Inzamam faces an ICC disciplinary hearing on Sept 27-28 in London.

“My job is to work closely with the players. To give them the right advice,” Talat said.

“If there are any complaints over the umpiring the ICC has a laid down procedure to file reports.

“In my experience as a match referee, I know that it never pays to resent an umpire's decision. Players can vent their anger and anguish in the official reports – not on the field.”

Talat went on to say that while Pakistan accepted the element of human error, it would take up poor umpiring decisions with the ICC through proper channels.

He would also try to introduce a culture of collective decisions within the team.

“Cricket is all about collective decisions and one has to draw a line somewhere where discipline is concerned,” he said.

“But I don't foresee any problems with this team.”—Reuters

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