Daryl Harper hails ICC for 30-minute breaks in Test cricket

By Bipin Dani

MUMBAI, India (TheSportsNEXT) October 31, 2012: The reduction of lunch interval from 40 minutes to 30 minutes and increased tea break from 20 minutes to 30 minutes is likely to be adequate for the players and match officials, former ICC elite panel umpire, Daryl Harper told TheSportsNEXT.com on Wednesday.

Speaking exclusively over telephone from Perth, where he has been officiating as a match-referee for Cricket Australia in a second XI four day match, Daryl Harper said, "The reduced luncheon interval is generally considered adequate for participants in a match to consume a substantial meal and to be ready to resume the action. I would anticipate that after players have experienced the option of two thirty minute intervals, they will favour this arrangement and it will become the norm".

The ICC has announced that in the Test matches, the host team, with the consent of the other side, can apply to the ICC for an approval for both intervals (lunch and tea) of 30 minutes each.

"This is the current playing condition in Australia for Sheffield Shield cricket and has proven to be very popular with my umpiring colleagues. It was also in use last season. The traditional twenty minute tea interval has long been considered to be too much of a rush with very limited time to rest and recuperate, remembering that the umpires are the last to leave the playing arena and the first to return after the break", the former ICC umpire added.

"The length of the interval remains constant, even if a bowler completes his over several minutes after the scheduled break in play. The restart of play is automatically adjusted to ensure that the length of the interval is not compromised".

"Many seasons ago, the resumption time was not changed so a tea break could be reduced to less than twenty minutes; a situation that was inconvenient", Harper signed off.

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Impossible to fix matches by umpires: Daryl Harper

By Bipin Dani

Daryl Harper finds it "Impossible" for cricket umpire to fix matches

MUMBAI, India (TheSportsNEXT) October 15, 2012: Former ICC umpire, Darrell Hair was not surprised with the recent allegations of fixing against match umpires. However, according to another retired ICC umpire, Daryl Harper, the result of the match can’t be fixed in normal circumstances.

 

Speaking exclusively with TheSportsNEXT.com from Adelaide on Monday, Daryl Harper said, "I don't believe that it would be possible for umpires to fix the result of a match without drawing attention to themselves. A series of poor decisions would be likely to attract attention and may lead to an umpire's demotion".

Adding further, he said, "However I do think that it would be possible to give marginal decisions in favour of one particular team. Often with an LBW appeal, an umpire has an element of doubt in his mind and in such a case, he usually gives the batsman the benefit of his doubt".

"I imagine that if an individual umpire was tempted by money or other benefits, to officiate against the spirit of the game and against what we know is right, then decisions in favour of one team would be possible", he believed.

"I officiated at the international level from 1994 until 2011 and I was never approached to perform in any way for anyone's benefit. I actually found that the principle of treating every player with the same even handed approach was the only way I could umpire. It was so difficult trying to get every decision correct, I can't imagine how an umpire could deliberately favour anyone", the 61-year-old Australian signed off.

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