THE International Cricket Council has warned their commentators to stay neutral during this year’s World Cup. The ICC issued the warning after Michael Holding, a former West Indian cricketer and now a renowned commentator, lashed out against poor umpiring in a match between the West Indies and Australia.

He called the standard of umpiring atrocious and believes this is why West Indies lost the match.

During the match two wrong calls were made by the umpires, one of them former Kiwi cricketer turned umpire Chris Gaffaney, who failed to notice a clear no ball bowled by Australian pacer Mitchell Starc.

The ICC has taken this step to bring neutrality and impartiality in the event. Renowned cricketers of the world are part of the ICC’s commentary panel for CWC 2019, including Ramiz Raja and Waseem Akram from Pakistan.

Kamran Khamiso Khowaja

Sujawal

(2)

ONE of the worst things about the ICC World Cup this year has to be the weather. Four matches were cancelled/couldn’t be played because of the rain!

Fans across the world, particularly those who bought tickets to watch the match, are disappointed. The rain has ruined the entire vibe of the tournament. A lot of great batting, bowling, fielding has been missed out.

Unexpected victories and losses, close contests etc are what generates competition between old rivals such as Pakistan and India Weather is an uncontrollable phenomenon but precautionary measures should be taken.

Samad Ullah Mughal

Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2019