Home-town umpiring decisions upset Pakistan

Pakistan were so worried about the umpiring on their Australian tour that they completed a team investigation into contentious decisions which showed the home side was almost six times better off. "It went 29-5 against us," Bob Woolmer, the coach, told the Brisbane Courier-Mail.

Woolmer, who left Australia yesterday after three Tests and the one-day VB Series, said the players had taken the setbacks well, but there were five close calls against them in the opening one-day final, and a first-over knock-back in the second when Adam Gilchrist was "plumb". "Quite frankly, Australia were the better side against us this summer, but some of these decisions made a huge difference," he said. "You are talking about decisions which players' careers rested on."

The Pakistan Cricket Board sent a letter to the ICC during the limited-overs tournament requesting two neutral umpires for one-day matches as well as Tests. One overseas and one local official stood in the VB Series, in line with ICC's current regulations.

Woolmer said Australia were very good at appealing, and that the adjudicators had pressure applied from the players and the crowd. "Umpires are not cheats," he told the newspaper. "I would never accuse them of that. The way the Australians appeal and the way the crowd supports them creates subconscious pressure on umpires and it shows. People can say an umpire gives a decision on what he sees rather than the appeals, but I disagree. The appeal is very much a part of it. It is a very fine line."

Woolmer said he was looking at ways to improve Pakistan's appealing. "Even if that means training at it," he said. "Maybe we need to appeal only when we are certain it is out and appeal very strongly. There are also ways of conducting yourself when you are batting to get the message across to an umpire that an appeal against you is not out. We must look at that as well."

A fan of Hawk-Eye's ball-tracking technology, Woolmer believes it should be used for decisions even though it is not perfect. "At the very least it is the same for both sides so you take all those other factors out of play," he said. "I am not having a go at umpires because they get it right well over 90% of the time."