Whether test umpire Nadeem Ghauri will succeed in overturning his four-year suspension on corruption charges is a matter of conjecture but the crux of the issue is that both he and the cricket board are to be blamed for this sad episode.

Pakistan Cricket Board needs to tighten up and regulate monitoring of the umpires supervising all the domestic matches. They should be offered a sort of contract on lines similar to those given to the leading cricketers.

The contract must include clause on inter-action with the media both local and foreign.

That Ghauri fell to a media sting clearly showed the fragility of our umpires falling to the monetary temptation in absence of any sound and reliable financial support by the national governing body.

The four-year punishment for him and three-year ban on fellow umpire Anis-ur-Rehman Siddiqui does indeed look harsh given the fact that they never got to adjudicate in the Sri Lankan Premier League.

FAWAD HASHMEY Lahore