Match referee should have final say on terminating matches: ICC CEC

Dubai, Jan 27 (UNI) Umpires are set to be stripped of their authority to terminate matches after the ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) recommended that the final say in the matter be given to the Match Referee.

After a two-day meeting at Fujairah, UAE, which concluded yesterday, the members of CEC recommended an amendment to the ICC Playing Condition that relates to Law 21.3 (Umpires awarding a match).

The recommendation would now come up for discussion at ICC Board meeting in South Africa in March.

''They have recommended that the final decision in relation to the termination of a match should rest with the ICC Match Referee.

This recommendation will be considered by the ICC Board in South Africa in March,'' the ICC said in a statement.

The recommendation follows a discussion on last year's Oval Test fiasco, which caused a major furore and led to a ban on umpire Darrell Hair. Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove had terminated the controversial match in England's favour after the Pakistan team refused to take the field following accusations of ball-tampering.

The CEC meeting also considered a range of issues relating to anti-doping. The members of the committee agreed that the ICC should take an active role in monitoring the anti-doping programs of its members.

The delegates received an update on the ICC's commercial program, including the ICC Twenty20 World Championship to be held in South Africa in September.

The CEC is made up of the Chief Executives or their equivalent from all 10 ICC Full Members, as well as three Associate Members, the ICC Chief Executive and President and the Chairman of the ICC's Cricket Committee.

India was represented by BCCI secretary Niranjan Shjah at the two-day meet.

UNI