Local ICC Umpires fall on hard times
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Sri Lanka’s international umpires have fallen so much on hard times that they will be forced to share the official match shirts they wear on duty according to a ruling that is unheard of in history. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Manager of Umpires and Match Referees Carlton Bernadus has written to the six Sri Lankan umpires who have been appointed for Fourth Umpire duties during the forthcoming ODI and T20 Series against India, asking them to return their uniform shirts to him after the series.
“ICC match shirts will be provided to all the Fourth Umpires, however on completion of the series please ensure that the ICC match shirt will be returned to the Manager Umpires/MR. Failure to do so will result in a fine of Rs.5000/-,” Bernardus informed the umpires on Saturday.
He demanded the shirts to be returned before August 12 the latest and warned that, “If you fail to return the ICC match shirt within the stipulated period an additional sum of Rs.2,000/- per day will be further charged for the additional days in addition to the fine of Rs.5,000/-.”
The shirts for the umpires are provided by the International Cricket Council (ICC) with their sponsor logos displayed
on them and it is compulsory for all umpires officiating in international matches to wear the official shirt.
Bernardus dismissed the issue as a trivial one and explained that the problem has been created by the large number of umpires SLC has chosen for international duty.
“We have picked many umpires into the panel so all of them can get international exposure. That is what created this shortage,” said Bernardus.
He said that SLC is forced to manage with the limited annual consignment of shirts ICC has sent SLC and they would get a fresh batch only for next year.
“We are not allowed to make the shirts by ICC. They have to be sent by them,” Bernardus added.
By Channaka De Silva
IPL 2013
Disgrace!
disgrace is not the word……..