N.Z. umpires under fire

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33783, 4 March 1975, Page 18

N.Z. umpires under fire

(N.Z. Press Assn —Copyright) LONDON The New Zealand test umpires reduced their philosophy of giving batsmen "not out" to absurdity during the first test against England, the "Guardian" said yesterday. Under the headline: "Umpires favour batsmen," the newspaper's cricket correspondent, Henry Blofeld, wrote: "New Zealand umpires have a reputation for giving batsmen not out, but while making all the usual allowances for commenting from a position a hundred yards away, it seemed that they had reduced this philosophy t» absurdity." Commenting on the first day's play when New Zealend scored 140 for three, Blofeld said: "At the end of the day one of the England fielders told me that New Zealand had in reality been something like 23 for six about an hour after the start, and while the remark was no doubt exaggerated by disappointment, the England bowlers had legitimate cause for complaint."

Among the decisions Blofeld said the fielders objected to was when "Turner . . . played forward to Lever and Fletcher at first slip threw up what the fielders considered to be a legitimate catch only fqr umpire Copps to disagree."