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ICC code of conduct stumps players, officials and now selectors
By Marlon Fernandopulle
First it was for the players, then to the team officials and now it has been extended to the selectors.Yes, the ICC code of conduct that prevents the players and team officials from making public statements that is detrimental to the game or any of it's officials (even if it is the truth) have now been clamped on the selectors as well.

The reason is very simple. The ICC does not want any of its officials criticized publicly by persons who are directly involved and closely associated with the game.

The decision to extend the current ICC code of conduct to include selectors was taken at the recently concluded ICC Executive Board meeting in Lahore and was prompted by the criticism of umpire David Shepherd by Pakistans chief selector Wasim Bari.

Shepherd who made an atrocious decision during the Pakistan - Australia ODI in Holland and later apologized to the Pakistan skipper after the game was rightly criticized in the media by Pakistan’s chief selector Wasim Bari.This has not gone down well with the ICC and thus prompted them to gag the selectors as well.

If the ICC does not want its officials to be criticized they must ensure that they do not make mistakes and especially mistakes that are glaring,costly and that could be easily avoided.

If this cannot be done the officials should be open to criticism. After all why cannot a selector who is qualified in the game question or rightly criticize a decision? The ICC must also realize that such criticism will also ensure that the official concerned (in this case the umpire) will be more cautious in his decision making and help him improve in his own trade.

However what happens in most cases is that the umpire gets away making glaring mistakes while the poor player who has been a victim is made to suffer. Take the recent incident when Virendra Shewag was adjudged leg before wicket after the ball deflected to his pads off the bat during the Australia-India test match..Shewag could not believe that umpire Billy Bowden raised his crooked finger and gave him marching orders.Shocked and disappointed, on his way back he exchanged words with the umpire and some Australian cricketers. The end result was that Shewag not only lost his wicket but was also slapped a fine of 65% of his match fee. And what happened to umpire Bowden who went on to make error after error in that test match. He is on the next flight to Faizalabad to umpire the Sri lanka -Pakistan game and earn a few more thousands of dollars.Would'nt it be prudent and fair to impose a spot fine on the umpires ?If the players could be fined, why not the umpires?

Well, the ICC says that it has a sophisticated system of assessing umpires at the end of each game and that includes reports from umpires, match refree,DVD analysis of all decisions etc.At the end of all these analysis will we see Billy Bowden out of the Elite Panel. Very unlikely!

Ensuring code of conduct
The ICC is very stringent in ensuring that the code of conduct for players and team officials are adhered to. But how about the match referees.?A section of the ICC code of conduct for players and officials is dedicated to the match referees.This section details purely on how a match referee should conduct his affairs with regard to a match.

It will be advisable if the ICC could include certain guidelines with regard to the off the field behavior of their match referees. As employees of the ICC these referees are expected to behave in a dignified manner that is acceptable to society and that is respected by the host country.

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