Tony Greig

Sydney: Former England captain Tony Greig has been a keen watcher of the goings-on in cricket. On Thursday, he spoke to The Telegraph about the poor umpiring at the SCG and related matters.

The following are excerpts

On whether he’d himself walk

I wouldn’t at the international level, but that’s largely because I’d been brought up in South Africa, where the umpiring wasn’t good... As a cricketer, the best period (concerning umpiring decisions) I experienced was at the County level in the 1970s when players walked... The umpires were also pros and if you didn’t walk, then they felt you were stuffing them... Word got around and, well, they would retaliate. They would do so because they thought that those who didn’t walk were cheats... When people didn’t, they got nailed.

On whether all walked in County cricket in the 1970s

No... Barry Richards, for example, was nicknamed ‘Glue’ because he never left the crease!

On whether his England teammates would walk

Most of them would, even though I’d plead with them not to because the Australians, for example, wouldn’t walk... In the Ashes, I’d tell them that we would begin a Test six down because of our blokes walking and the Australians not doing so.

On technology exposing umpires

It’s not that mistakes weren’t made in the days when there weren’t live telecasts, it’s just that technology is showing the umpires in poor light... I refuse to believe that (Steve) Bucknor went out of his way to give (Andrew) Symonds not out yesterday (Wednesday)... He made a mistake and, because of the high quality of cameras, stood exposed. Because technology is getting better, we’re ending up in a dreadful situation where umpires are getting exposed and the batsmen don’t walk... In my view, it’s best that the players take control of their own game... The batters should walk, do what (Adam) Gilchrist does.

On Gilchrist

He’s far ahead of the others because he walks... He didn’t think twice about walking even in a World Cup semi-final (versus Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth, 2003)...

On whether there’s a solution given that few batsmen are going to emulate Gilchrist

Yes... The Match Referee and/or third (TV) umpire should press a button if they’re convinced that the on-field umpire has erred... It could be for any form of dismissal and would mean ‘not out’... Match Referees, especially, keep travelling all over the world and it’s time they did something besides sitting in air-conditioned cabins... They’ve got to stop what has become an embarrassing situation for all concerned. The Mike Procters should press a button when they see it’s not out.

On centurion Symonds’s admission during Wednesday’s media conference that he’d been “very lucky” not to be given out on 30

I wouldn’t like your headline to say I’ve called him a cheat... Symonds, I feel, has been caught up in the system...

On the justification by most that the decisions even out

I don’t agree with that logic... Just don’t agree.

On whether batsmen don’t walk as there’s too much at stake, financially and otherwise

I’m sure it’s a factor, but I’m not sure how big a factor it is... I’d like to add that if the players aren’t good enough, then the game will sort them out sooner rather than later... Umpires can’t save them.

On whether insecurity could also be a factor

Well, even if he’s dropped, a good batsman can always come back after a poor decision.

On Steve Waugh’s call to have Simon Taufel officiating in the “premium” Tests

If the best happens to be an Australian, I see no reason why he shouldn’t stand in a Test involving Australia... I wouldn’t have an issue if the other on-field umpire in an India series is an Indian... I’d go for efficiency, not nationality... In fact, I’m disappointed to learn that there’s no Indian on the ICC’s Elite Panel... Can’t believe it.

On the Elite Panel

I’m not sure what good it has done... Personally, I’ve never had an issue with the integrity of umpires.

On the best umpires of his time

There were quite a few... Charlie Elliot, Dickie Bird...

Finally, on his reluctance to call non-walkers cheats

(Grins) That’s because I didn’t walk myself and people could call me a cheat... But I didn’t walk because the opposition batters didn’t do so... Hopefully, in time, we’ll be seeing more Gilchrists.