Melbourne, Dec 8 (IANS) After attributing umpire Mark Benson’s mystifying absence from the Adelaide Test to ill-health, International Cricket Council (ICC) Tuesday also admitted the elite panel umpire failed to handle the ‘pressure’ of his demanding job.
Benson flew hurriedly to home back in England after standing on the first day of the second cricket Test between Australia and West Indies. Benson was at the receiving end of the new decision referral system, with some of his decisions over-ruled. Reports claimed that Benson had left because he felt he was unable to cope with the pressure.
While the initial explanation from the governing body was that Benson’s exit was purely health-related, ICC cricket manager David Richardson gave the true picture Monday night.
‘What we can say without speaking to Mark himself is that he quit the Test for a combination of health and pressure problems,’ Richardson was quoted in the Australian media.
‘Coping with a very pressured job proved too much for him. (Whether or not he continues as an elite umpire) is up to him. We are only able to contract a certain number of umpires and only if they are up to the job.’
Since his return home to Britain, Benson has been locked in deep discussion with the ICC umpires manager Vince van der Bijl, further fuelling the impression that the new system was at issue.
John Holder, the ICC umpires performance manager for Europe, diverged from the official view of the new system by saying that it had increased pressure on officials.
‘The system is about eliminating mistakes, but if the umpire loses confidence when he is overruled then for that particular umpire it might have the opposite effect.
‘The reality is that now umpiring is so much more under the microscope. (Benson) has had a few health problems even before he got on to the international panel. Maybe this job is not cut out for him,’ Holder said.
‘Imagine how it is. You have made a decision in good faith and you are having it overthrown in front of millions of people worldwide.
‘Some people might find that humiliating. Some umpires can give a decision, be told they have got it wrong, and get on with their lives. Others can’t.’
