November 26, 2007	Monday	Ziqa’ad 15, 1428

Dubai, Nov 25: International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent 50 questions to its former panel of umpires to get their feedback on the present system of picking and posting officials for matches worldwide in an effort to improve the standard of umpiring.

They are all multiple-choice questions, with four options each. But the respondents can provide more details if they feel like it.

“It is a comprehensive questionnaire and a fine effort to get feedback from former umpires. It also gives us a nice feeling that we can still contribute despite not being on the panel,” a former ICC panel umpire said.

“They were wide-ranging questions, touching upon every aspect of umpiring. This step should help ICC improve the standard of umpiring worldwide making it error free,” he said. He did not give more details on the questionnaire as it was confidential.

ICC currently has three panels of umpires to officiate in matches of different levels globally. Elite Panel members officiate in Tests and One-Day Internationals; International Panel umpires stand only in ODIs, both at home and abroad; officials of Associate and Affiliate International Panel stand in matches between non-Test playing countries.

ICC is carrying out this survey because it wants to further streamline umpiring and make its panel members travel less so that their efficiency increases.—PPI