Bring back home umpires, says Bailey

Australia ODI batsman George Bailey says it’s time for umpires to be allowed to stand in Tests in their own country.

To remove any potential home team bias, one neutral umpire was introduced as an experiment and fully adopted two years later, with two neutral umpires becoming mandatory in Test cricket from 2002.

But with the introduction of the Decision Review System and the advancements in technology and analysis tools such as ball tracking, Hot Spot and Real Time Snicko, Bailey says now is the time to let umpires officiate on their home turf in the five-day game.

“I think that now the technology is so good … I want to see the best umpires umpiring the series,” Bailey told The Unplayable Podcast on Sunday as he discussed the merits of a raft of possible rule changes.

“At the moment if you’re an Australian umpire you can’t be umpiring Australians in Tests and you can’t umpire in Australia.

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“I think that’s really disappointing for the umpires. I just think you want the best umpires umpiring the best Test series. 

“It was brought in to take out perceived bias but I’m not sure you get that now.

“I think that would be the quickest way to make the best decisions in Test and one-day cricket, is to have the best umpires umpiring.”

With India finally adopting the DRS in their current series against England, albeit on a trial basis, every Test playing nation is now supporting the use of technology in cricket.

While the odd decision still raises eyebrows (see: Mitchell Marsh’s second innings dismissal in Perth), the DRS still delivers 98-99 per cent correct decisions, according to ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice.

When asked if substitutions should be allowed in Test cricket to replace an injured player, Bailey could see both sides of the coin, but ultimately stuck with keeping the rule as is due in large to the stunning effort in Perth last week when the Proteas rallied to pull off an incredible win without their injured spearhead Dale Steyn.

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“I’m a bit torn with this one,” Bailey said. “I think one of the great things about Test cricket is how hard it is physically.

“That challenge of if you bat a long time in the first innings and really tire the bowlers out, tire the fielders out in the opposition team so they’re a bit tired when they bat and when they come out in the second innings they’re fatigued, might be down on pace and you might be able to cash in, I think that’s one of the great tests.

“It’s really difficult when you see one of the bowlers get injured early in the game and it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the bowlers.

“But what a marvellous response it was (by the Proteas in Perth).

“What we did see from South Africa was one of the great performances from (man of the match Kagiso) Rabada and the legend of his bowling and his career grew out of that.

“So at the moment I’d like to keep it the way it is.”

While Bailey liked the idea of introducing red and yellow cards for poor sledging, the 34-year-old was not a fan on introducing a ‘Delivery Clock’ that would give a bowler a nominal amount of time to bowl each delivery or incur a five run penalty.

“I think that’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard," he added. "That is ridiculous.”

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