It went down to the last ball but when Jacques Kallis fell in the 43rd over, with South Africa requiring an improbable 74 from 43 balls and only two wickets in hand, it looked like game, set and match to India. From there, Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell threatened to pull of an incredible heist but India held their nerve to clinch a final-ball win in Jaipur.

The quality of cricket was actually below-par from both sides – India’s bowling threatened to completely disintegrate under the pressure and barring Kallis, South Africa’s batting was quite dismal – but the contest was made memorable by the tailenders Steyn and Parnell. This is how it panned out in the end: Steyn lashed two straight sixes in the 46th over bowled by Suresh Raina, the pair pinched three boundaries in the 48th over bowled by an errant Sreesanth and when both batsmen struck audacious sixes down the ground against Ashish Nehra in the 49th over, South Africa required only 10 from the last over.

Praveen Kumar bowled Steyn with a slower one off the second delivery but the drama wasn’t over yet. Charl Langeveldt pulled the penultimate delivery to long leg where Sachin Tendulkar dived full-stretch to prevent the boundary. Many replays later, the third umpire ruled it a legal save and South Africa had to be content with three runs but had the well-set Parnell on strike for the last delivery. More excitement lay ahead as Praveen hurled a wide leaving South Africa needing three to win. Parnell squeezed out the final delivery to third man where Sreesanth fielded the ball cleanly and threw in a slightly wide throw but MS Dhoni had enough time to break the stumps with Parnell just one yard short of levelling the scores.

Until those dramatic end overs where India threatened to choke, they had actually done most things necessary to win the game. No batsman got a big score, but there were enough handy contributions from the top-order to push India to a strong 298. No bowler got more than two wickets but there was enough combined discipline in the attack, till they crumbled under the Steyn & Parnell show, to restrict South Africa.

For their part, South Africa might have come very close in the end but the stand-in captain Jacques Kallis was the only top-order batsman to offer any resistance in the chase where Ravindra Jadeja starred for India with his unspectacular but steady spell of left-arm spin where he used the arm-ball quite liberally to keep the batsmen honest. When Jadeja came on to bowl South Africa were sitting pretty at 60 for 1 from nine overs. When he finished his first spell that read 8-2-23-2, and included the vital wickets of Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers, South Africa had slowed down to 127 for 3 from 24 overs.

He didn’t get the ball to turn but repeatedly slipped the one that went straight on with the arm to suffocate the batsmen. The ball also tended to skid on in this surface and at times kept a touch low and the batsmen struggled to put away his armers. He lured Gibbs to slice to long-off and troubled both Kallis and de Villiers with his skidding deliveries. de Villiers tried to wriggle free with an attempted cut shot that proved fatal as he completely failed to connect.

From then on South Africa were always chasing their own tail despite Kallis’ effort and though Steyn and Parnell played the one-day innings of their lives, they fell short in the end.

Like South Africa, India too didn’t have any centurion today but, unlike the visitors, there were enough contributions to charge them to a strong score. On a day when Virender Sehwag played a couple of typically stunning shots – a slashed six over third man and another flamboyantly carved over covers being the picks – two innings, from men who are yet to secure their spots in the playing eleven, caught the eye. Karthik’s entertaining 44 and Raina’s attractive 58 stood out for their sparkling shots, and also for their untimely dismissals. Both fell when they were well-set and had the opportunity to take India to an unassailable position.

India were at 32 for the loss of Tendulkar in seven overs when Karthik started to go for his shots. Until then, he was playing the conventional strokes and even timing them well but was unable to find the gaps.

Everything changed in the eighth over bowled by Parnell. The first ball, a short of a length delivery outside off stump, was flat-batted – a forehand cross-court swat – over the bowler’s head. Off the third delivery, he walked down the track to upset the line and length and whipped through midwicket for another boundary and a pull off the fifth delivery fetched him a couple before he collected another pulled boundary off the last ball.

Karthik continued to innovate and play the big shots – a slog-swept six against Johan Botha being the highlight – before he fell. This ability to manufacture shots and pull out the big hits irrespective of the match situation has been his strength and weakness. Shot selection hasn’t always been his strong point but it looked like today was going to be his day until he was dismissed against the run of play, mistiming a pull shot off Langeveldt straight to mid-on.

Raina took over after Karthik’s exit, starting off with a delightful, on-the-up, cover-driven boundary off Albie Morkel, and handled himself well against the short stuff from Kallis. The pitch was a flat beauty and there wasn’t great pace or bounce to cause any trouble and Raina collected boundaries with upper cuts and a couple of pull shots. He went on to heave a back-of-length delivery from Parnell over wide long-on boundary but in the 44th over, with India on 260 for 6, he moved away from the stumps to try an expansive inside-out drive over the covers, only to edge Kallis behind the wicket.

It was left to the tail to push India towards 300, which proved more than enough in the end courtesy a fine spell from Jadeja. Kallis carried on gamely with a characteristic innings but he received no support from his team-mates: Mark Boucher edged a slightly wide delivery, Alviro Petersen was run out as he failed to ground his bat, and both Morkel and Botha fell playing across the line. Kallis dealt in singles initially, put away most of the bad balls, and tried to manufacture a few big shots in the end overs but the stiff target proved too much for him to pull off a one-man-show. Steyn and Parnell nearly pulled off the improbable but couldn’t complete a fairy-tale finish.

“It feels good that I lasted for 50 overs, a good test of my fitness. I’d like to bat another 50 overs at some stage and see that the fitness level doesn’t drop,” Tendulkar said after his effort helped India take a unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. “The ball was coming onto the bat and I was striking the ball well. So when everything falls into its place, it feels nice. It was one of the innings where I felt I was moving well. Since I was timing the ball well, I could be more aggressive and put pressure on the bowlers.”

Tendulkar, while dedicating his feat to the people of India, credited coach Gary Kirsten for the team’s success in both forms of the game after the debacle in the World Cup in the Caribbean. “I’ve enjoyed various challenges; after the 2007 World Cup things have looked different and I’m enjoying the game,” he said. “The credit also goes to Gary [Kirsten], he has really held the team beautifully. It’s about togetherness and playing for each other. You see during the practice sessions that Gary himself trains as hard as anyone else, or probably harder than anyone else as he’s the one giving us practice all the time.”

Tendulkar said he sensed an opportunity to break the record and reach a double-century when he had gone past 175 in the 42nd over. The record eventually came in the 46th over, and the 200 in the 50th. “When I was near 175-180, I thought I could get a 200 as there were quite a few overs left,” he said. He added that he would prefer his achievement to be upstaged by an Indian. “I don’t play for records, I play for enjoyment and play with lots of passion. That’s how cricket started. I didn’t start playing cricket to break all the records; it’s happened along the way. The dream was to play for India and do my best.

“I don’t think any record is unbreakable. Records are made to be broken. I hope that if this record is broke, it’s done by an Indian.”

This was India’s third-highest score in ODIs, and Tendulkar said the 400-mark would not have reached if not for some big hitting by Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni. “I thought a target of 340-350 would be a good one, but Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni came in and hit the big shots and cleared the ropes consistently and helped us pass 400.”

Tendulkar added that India were not relaxing despite having put up a mammoth score, for they were aware South Africa were the only team to have chased down a target in excess of 400. “This was the team that chased 434 against Australia. So we didn’t get complacent and told ourselves that we had just got through the half-way stage by scoring 401. And what we did in the second half was extremely important. We were aiming at getting early wickets and putting them out of the game.”

Dhoni, who witnessed Tendulkar surpass the record from the other end, said: “I think one of the best innings, you can say. It’s always good to be on the other side, watching him score 200 runs. When he is tired and can’t play the big shots, he was very clever to use the pace of the bowler and it’s very difficult for the bowlers as they don’t know where exactly to bowl.”

India lost Virender Sehwag early, and Tendulkar was assisted in three sizable stands where runs came at a brisk pace, with Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf and Dhoni. “Once Viru got out, it was important to get some kind of a partnership going. They [Tendulkar and Karthik] went on with their innings, and they set a platform after which we were sure we would get 350-plus which would be a difficult target,” Dhoni said. “Yusuf was sent up the order and with the talent he’s got, he can be a great asset to the side.”

Yusuf scored a quickfire 36 and was particularly lethal during the batting Powerplay, while Dhoni proved destructive at the death, bludgeoning 68 off 35 in a century-stand with Tendulkar in just 53 balls. “I have changed my batting a bit, but the situation demanded that kind [attacking] of innings,” Dhoni said. “The ground is a small one, and we were a bit worried about the dew factor. But once they lost 3-4 early wickets, it was difficult for them to get back into the game.”

For South Africa and their stand-in captain Jacques Kallis, it was a case of the basics gone wrong. “The toss was quite vital. Our basics were just weren’t good enough today. We were outplayed,” Kallis said. “We lost wickets at crucial stages, our basics let us down. A fantastic innings by Sachin; he took advantage of some good conditions and he played superbly. We let ourselves down in some areas.”

In Year 2010, cricket calender is packed with a Twenty20 world cup in month of April in West Indies, Asia cup which is an ODI tournament played between all asian country, several bilateral tours like South Africa, New Zealand & Australia tour of India which includes test series and T20 games and one or two triseries as well. and on top of all, Australia and England resume their battle for urn, the Ashes 2010, to be played in Australia this time from the month of November.

Australia also tour England for a series of one day internationals while England play host to Pakistan vs Australia test series after a long gap. Bangladeshi team will have their busiest cricketing season while Indian cricket team will indulge into Indian Premier League (IPL), Champions League T20 along with their International commitments.

Note that following list of cricket fixtures for year 2010 show only which country tour where in what month. Actual and full time table is only relased by respective host boards around 2-3 months in advance. So, in case you are anticipating an upcoming cricket series, wait some more.. following tables will be updated as soon as full schedules are released.

England Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
Months Versus Matches Fixtures & Result
January England in South Africa 4 tests + 5 ODI + T20 Eng in SA 2010
February-March England in Bangladesh 2 tests + 3 ODIs Eng in Bdesh 2010
April T20 WC in West Indies Twenty20 World cup World T20 2010
May Bangladesh in England 2 Test + 3 ODI Bdesh in Eng 2010
June Australia in England 5 ODI Series Aus in Eng 2010
Aug-Sept Pakistan in England 4 test & 5 ODI Pak in Eng 2010
Nov-Dec England in Australia Ashes 2011 Ashes 2010

India Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
January India in Bangladesh 2 Test + Triseries India in Bdesh 2010
February-March South Africa in India 3 Test + 5 ODI SA in Ind 2010
April Asia Cup ODI Tournament Asia Cup 2010
April T20 WC in West Indies Twenty20 World Cup World T20 2010
May India in Zimbabwe 3 ODI Series Ind in Zim 2010
July India in Sri Lanka Triseries Ind v NZ v SL
October Australia in India 7 ODI Series Aus in Ind 2010
November New Zealand in India 3 Test + 5 ODI NZ in Ind 2010

Australia Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
January Pakistan in Australia 3 Test + 5 ODI + T20 Pak in Aus 2010
February West Indies in Australia 5 ODI + T20 WI in Aus 2010
March-April Australia in New Zealand 3 Test + 5 ODI + 2 T20s Aus in NZ 2010
April T20 World Cup in WI Twenty20 World Cup World T20 2010
June Australia in England 5 ODI Series Aus in Eng 2010
July Pak v Aus in Eng 2 Test & 3 ODI Pak v Aus 2010
August Bangladesh in Australia 2 Test & 3 ODI Bdesh in Aus 2010
October Australia in India 7 ODI series Aus in Ind 2010
November England in Australia 5 Test Series Ashes 2010-11

Pakistan Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
January Pakistan in Australia 3 Test + 5 ODI + T20 Pak in Aus 2010
April Asia Cup ODI Tournament Asia Cup 2010
April T20 World cup in West Indies Twenty20 World Cup World T20 2010
July Pak v Aus in Eng 2 Test & 3 ODI Pak v Aus 2010
Aug-Sept Pakistan v England 4 test & 5 ODI Pak in Eng 2010
October Bangladesh in Pakistan 2 Test + 3 ODI Bdesh in Pak 2010
November South Africa in Pakistan 3 Test + 5 ODI SA in Pak 2010

New Zealand Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
February Bangladesh in New Zealand 1 Test, 3 ODI, 2 T20 Bdesh in NZ 2010
March-April Australia in New Zealand Test + ODI + T20 Aus in NZ 2010
April T20 World cup in West Indies Twenty20 World Cup WC T20 2010
July New Zealand in Sri Lanka Triseries Ind v NZ v SL
October New Zealand in Bangladesh 2 Test + 3 ODI NZ in Bdesh 2010
November New Zealand in India 3 Test + 5 ODI NZ in Ind 2010

Sri Lanka Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
January Srilanka in Bangladesh Triseries Ind v SL v Bdesh
April Asia Cup ODI Tournament Asia Cup 2010
April T20 World cup in West Indies Twenty20 World Cup WC T20 2010
July India & New Zealand in Sri Lanka Tri Series Ind v NZ v SL
Nov-Dec West Indies in Sri Lanka 3 Test + 5 ODI WI in SL 2010

South Africa Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
January England in South Africa 4 Test + 5 ODI Eng in SA 2010
February-March South Africa in India 3 Test + 5 ODI SA in Ind 2010
April T20 World cup in WI Twenty20 World Cup WC T20 2010
May-June South Africa in West Indies 4 Test + 5 ODI SA in WI 2010
September Zimbabwe in South Africa ODI Series Zim in SA 2010
Oct-Nov South Africa in Pakistan 3 Test + 5 ODI SA in Pak 2010

West Indies Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
February West Indies in Australia 5 ODI + T20 WI in Aus 2010
March Zimbabwe in West Indies ODI Series Zim in WI 2010
April T20 World cup in West Indies Twenty20 World Cup WC T20 2010
May-June South Africa in West Indies 4 Test + 5 ODI SA in WI 2010
July – August West Indies tour of England 4 Test + 5 ODI WI in Eng 2010
Nov-Dec West Indies in Sri Lanka 3 Test + 5 ODI WI in SL 2010

Bangladesh Cricket Schedule : Year 2010
January SL & Ind in Bdesh ODI Triseries Ind v SL v Bdesh
January India in Bangladesh 2 Tests Ind in Bdesh 2010
February Bangladesh tour of New Zealand Test + ODI + T20 Bdesh in NZ 2010
March England in Bdesh Test + ODI Eng in Bdesh 2010
April Asia Cup ODI Tournament Asia cup 2010
April T20 World cup in West Indies Twenty20 World cup World T20 2010
May Bangladesh in England 2 Test + 3 ODI Bdesh in Eng 2010
July Bangladesh in Australia 2 Tests Bdesh in Aus 2010
August Bangladesh in Pakistan 2 Test + 3 ODI Bdesh in Pak 2010
October New Zealand in Bangladesh 2 Test + 3 ODI NZ in Bdesh 2010

England 180
South Africa 292/5 (86.5 ov)
South Africa lead by 112 runs with 5 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Day 3 – Session 1

Ireland Under-19s 216/6 (50 ov)
South Africa Under-19s 220/5 (43.4 ov)
South Africa Under-19s won by 5 wickets (with 38 balls remaining)

Canada Under-19s 201/7 (50 ov)
Zimbabwe Under-19s 191 (49.4 ov)
Canada Under-19s won by 10 runs

Afghanistan Under-19s 118 (49.2 ov)
India Under-19s 122/2 (25.2 ov)
India Under-19s won by 8 wickets (with 148 balls remaining)

George Headley

Alan knott

Two greats of the game, George Headley and Alan Knott, were formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the second ODI between England and Australia at Lord’s, London on Sunday.

The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), recognises some of the truly great players from cricket’s long and illustrious history.

Commemorative caps were presented to Headley’s son Ron, who himself played two Tests and one ODI for the West Indies , and Knott by the International Cricket Council president David Morgan, ICC director and England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke, Marylebone Cricket Club chairman Charles Fry, Marylebone Cricket Club president Derek Underwood, former MCC president Mike Brearley and former ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth.

Headley was the first great black batsman to emerge from the West Indies. In his 24-year Test career from 1930 to 1954, he scored 2,190 runs in 22 Tests at an average of 60.83 which is the third highest average by any player with a completed career behind fellow Hall of Famers Don Bradman and Graeme Pollock.

He scored five half-centuries and 10 centuries (eight against England and two against Australia), including a century in each innings (106 and 107) against England at Lord’s in 1939 which made him the first batsman to achieve the feat at that ground. His rate of scoring centuries one century for every four innings is bettered only by Bradman.

In his debut series against England in 1930, the right-hander who was born in Panama in 1909 and had come to Jamaica to learn English aged 10, scored 704 runs in eight innings of four Tests, including scores of 21, 176, 8, 39, 114, 112, 10 and 223.

Headley’s career-best 270 was also against England at Sabina Park in March 1935.

After playing 16 Tests between 1930 and 1935, Headley played the last six Tests in 19 years. In 1948, Headley became the first black player to captain the West Indies while his final appearance for the West Indies made him the oldest West Indian Test cricketer at 44 years and 236 days.

Headley was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1934.

Besides his son Ron, George’s grandson Dean played 15 Tests and 30 ODIs for England in the last decade. It was the first of only two instances of a grandfather, father and son playing Test cricket, the other being Jahangir Khan, Majid Khan and Bazid Khan.

Knott, the 63-year-old former England wicket-keeper, made his Test debut against Pakistan in August 1967 and played his 95th and last Test against Australia in September 1981. During this period, Knott scored 4,389 runs at an average of a little over 32 and dismissed 269 batsmen. In one of his most memorable innings, Knott’s scored 73 not out in four hours to help Colin Cowdrey save the series against the West Indies at Georgetown in 1967-68.

Knott represented Kent (1964-1985), MCC (1965-1977) and Tasmania (1969-70) in domestic cricket and scored 18,105 runs at an average of a little under 30 and dismissed 1,344 batsmen in 511 first-class matches.

Knott also played in the 1975 World Cup as he represented England in 20 ODIs in which he scored 200 runs and dismissed 16 batsmen.

Knott was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970.

After receiving his cap from MCC President Derek Underwood, Knott said: “It is a tremendous honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, which features so many of my heroes and friends, past and present.

ther ICC Cricket Hall of Famers to have received their caps so far in 2009 are legendary New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee, former Australian greats Rod Marsh, Ian Chappell, Allan Border , Neil Harvey and Richie Benaud, former West Indies players or their family members or representatives batting greats Clive Lloyd , Vivian Richards and Rohan Kanhai, champion all-rounder Garfield Sobers, the three Ws Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott and Frank Worrell, opener Gordon Greenidge, fast bowlers Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts, and star off-spinner Lance Gibbs also ex-South Africa batsmen Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock, former Pakistan stalwarts Javed Miandad and Hanif Mohammad and England’s Alec Bedser, Colin Cowdrey, Tom Graveney, Peter May, David Gower, Derek Underwood, Graham Gooch, Harold Larwood, Denis Compton, Frank Woolley, Sydney Barnes, Sir Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Wilfred Rhodes, Fred Trueman Sir Leonard Hutton, Sir Jack Hobbs, Jim Laker and Brian Statham.

Street Cricket in India

The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) today decided to ban all forms of galli, indoor, school-kid and ‘customised’ cricket games, including those played on streets, in homes, and with tennis, hockey or plastic balls. The BCCI has also declared a life-long ban on those individuals, especially young children, who “spoil the spirit of the game by playing cricket on roads and streets, with tennis or other such balls and do not wear pads or gloves while batting or keeping, among others.”

“This is a gross violation of the rules of the game. It is illegal, lowers the dignity

of both the ICC and BCCI, and therefore, strictly speaking from today onwards, shall be punished,” a BCCI official, beaming with glee, announced.

“We are specially warning children playing cricket without wearing shoes, pads and gloves, or using tennis balls or any non-­cricket ball — stop it or face our fury, which will

be unleashed ruthlessly, by placing a life ban on you, preventing you from watching any IPL matches, having your thumbs cut off

if you persist, or your TV cables blocked out of all cricket telecasts,” the official told Sedition and Perdition.

Along predictable lines, all major cricketers, international cricket bodies, national cricket bodies, BCCI officials, ex-cricketers, commentators, Bollywood stars, irrelevant politicians manning cricket bodies, and loads of sport lovers in India supported the move.

“Quite frankly this ban should have been brought into place long ago. For decades now, Indians across the country have been insulting their self-confessed religion of cricket, demeaning its stature, lowering its dignity and indulging in other blasphemous actions, including using tennis balls. How would Brazil react if kids there played soccer with a cricket ball?” a cricket commentator, earlier caught in a betting and match fixing scandal sermonised. “Tennis balls, aagrrh.”

But in sharp reaction, sports goods shops, tennis associations and coaches, condemned the ban on tennis ball cricket. “We will be destroyed if we are not allowed to sell tennis balls to Indian children so they can play cri­cket with it. What do you think all these tennis courts and tennis balls and racquets are purchased for…to play tennis? Good god, no!”

Tennis coaches across India, who help Indian children perfect the art of playing cri­cket with tennis balls threatened to go on strike if the ban was not removed. “What will we do? How will we earn and how will we feed our families? Tennis coaches in India will become bankrupt if they have to earn their livelihood teaching tennis,” they said.

In another sinister move, Lalit Modi

announced the creation of a new premium league of cricket which will have 10 overs an innings, to be played only with tennis balls, on simulated gallis.

“This multi-billion dollar league is my

innovation, a new way of playing cricket. We will have everyone who matters — political parties, godmen, industrial houses and Bollywood stars to bid for the teams. Just imagine, premium schools, slums and common galli kids all selected on a reality show with Danny Boyle as a judge, top-notch cricketers from around the world joining the teams, purchased by these cash-rich cricket lovers, and mind you, only 10 over a side, leaving more television time for ads and entertainment… all this is my idea and contribution to cricket,” Modi told SedPerd in an exclusive interview that never happened.

Legendary cricket Sunil Gavaskar, who just managed to save his skin from a life ban for having played cricket in narrow gallis, proclaimed the genius of Modi. “He is to cricket what Goebbels was to the Nazi party,” he told SedPerd in a fictional interview. “Just imagine taking something that is already there, banning it using your muscle, then making a format of it and earning billions… That is the genius of the BCCI and Modi.”

Objectivist, a near anonymous philosopher, reacted saying, “It was always there openly in front of the public. The alphabet ‘C’ in BCCI stands for control…why cric­ket or cricketers need control, no one questioned. This is the logical end of it.”

In the meanwhile, exuberant stars began planning for the bids, cricketers globally

announced retirement from Test and One Day Internationals cricket to join the Indian Tennis-ball Galli Cricket League, while TV moguls smacked their lips, ad men went frantic creating newer galli-compliant Zoo-Zoos, and little cricket loving kids shrugged their shoulders and began playing Kabbadi on Indian streets, while the unheard poet screamed in pain, “they have destroyed my dear game of cricket completely”.

Lahore Attack on Sri lanka cricket team

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has assured Pakistan that international cricket would return to the troubled nation as soon as it is safe to for the foreign teams to return there.

ICC President David Morgan said international cricket will return to Pakistan as soon as it is ’safe’ and ’secure’ for the game to be played there.

Morgan said resumption of international cricket in Pakistan is on top of ICC’s agenda, and the apex cricket authority would not let the game suffer unduly.

“Our number-one priority is that cricket in Pakistan must not be allowed to suffer unduly and I believe this agreement is the best possible outcome for the game,” The Nation quoted Morgan, as saying.

It may be recalled that the ICC had declared Pakistan an unsafe destination for foreign team in the wake of the terror attack on the visiting Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore in March.

The ICC also shifted the 2011 World Cup matches from Pakistan after the attack in which seven Sri Lankan players were injured and six s

Former greatest British Test umpire Dickie Bird has joined the chorus of people imploring the  International  Cricket Council (ICC) to change their rules to ensure the best officials are appointed  to the biggest series.

Under ICC regulations, umpires are banned from standing in matches involving teams from their own countries, ensuring matches are overseen by “neutral” umpires.

Critics have argued that the best umpires should be appointed regardless of their nationality and the teams involved, and the issue came to a head during the recent Ashes series between England and Australia.

Australia’s Simon Taufel has been officially recognised as the ICC’s umpire of the year for the past five seasons but was prevented from officiating in the Ashes, which was clouded by a series of contentious decisions.

“I don’t know whether the ICC or the ruling body has got the best umpires, but you must get the best umpires, especially to do an Ashes series when there’s so much at stake,” Bird told Sky Sports on Tuesday.

“Decisions can cost a Test match or a player’s career. It looked at times as if the pressure got at the two umpires out in the middle.”

Bird, 76, said he sympathised with the umpires who did control the Ashes series because of the extra scrutiny they were under but said their jobs would be made easier if more video replays were allowed.

“It’s not an easy job, it’s very difficult, but now there are electronic aids so they should be able to get most of the decisions right,” he said.