Dar gives thumbs up to UDRS

Karachi:

ICC umpire of the year Aleem Dar is in favour of using Umpires Decision Referral System in international cricket and says the authority of the on-field officials will remain same even if the role of technology gets bigger in making decisions.

The eminent Pakistani umpire was speaking at a function oraganised in his honour by the Karachi City Cricket Association for winning the ICC best umpire of the year award.

"Any modern technology that provides support to the umpires and helps them in resolving contentious decisions should be welcomed in international cricket," Dar, who was presented a gold medal by KCCA, said.

"I think given the hectic international calendar and the hard task of umpires this system would only help them in their jobs. Nothing can ever take away the authority of the umpires on the field," he added.

The ICC has faced problems getting its member boards to enforce the referral system that was approved by the world governing body this year after a year of experimentations.

But some cricket Boards including India and South Africa have refused to use it as they will have to bear the cost of technology.

New Zealand and Australia though have announced that they would use the system at their own costs in their coming series against Pakistan and West Indies.

Dar said he had no doubt the umpires review system would help reduce the chances of mistakes made on the field.

"It will make our life easier if used properly." Under the review system, teams are allowed to challenge two decisions made by on field umpires in an innings and refer it to the third umpire.

Talking about his achievement, Dar said,"Once you achieve such an award there is pressure on you to not make mistakes and be the best but mistakes can be made by anyone and umpires are human beings."

"But I do try to give it my best and see no team has reason to complain after a match," he said.