Bangladesh are set to lodge an official complaint to the International Cricket Council regarding questionable decisions made by umpires and the sledging from the South African team in the Test that concluded on April 4.
Bangladesh Cricket Board cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus told ESPNcricinfo that they have decided to raise the matter with ICC after, according to them, umpires showed greater leniency in their decision-making towards the home side and also ignored their complaints when the hosts threw inappropriate remarks at them.
“We have already lodged one complaint about the umpiring after the ODI series. The match referee [Andy Pycroft] had an argument with our manager Nafees Iqbal, but then we gave him a written complaint. We will lodge another official complaint about this Test match,”
said Yunus, echoing a sentiment expressed by Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque.
“Sledging is quite normal, but the umpires didn’t seem to notice it. The umpiring in the match is not in our control, but I think the ICC should think about bringing back neutral umpires,”
Mominul was quoted as saying.
The Bangladeshi set-up has taken offence from umpiring in the first Test in Durban since the critical third-innings of the fixture. Their team director Khaled Mahmud had said the visitors may have been chasing a score around 180, not the eventual 274, in better batting conditions if not for all the close calls going South Africa’s way.
One of them saw SA skipper Dean Elgar hit on the back leg in, but given not out on the field by Marais Erasmus. Even though Bangladesh opted for the DRS, Elgar survived the LBW shout since the ball-tracking technology showcased insignificant contact with the stumps and the umpire’s call was upheld.
In another instance, home team batter Sarel Erwee was given not out by Erasmus’ on-field partner Adrian Holdstock, only for DRS to confirm he was out plumb LBW.
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The Bangladesh camp hasn’t directly accused the ICC-appointed officials of bias but wants the governing body to go back to employing neutral umpires for Test matches.
The ICC had reverted to home umpires for international cricket back in 2020 as one of the interim measures adopted to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
