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Australia are in the Champions Trophy final, and that means the man considered by many as the best umpire in the world will again be a spectator.
Umpire Simon Taufel, five times voted the sport’s best match official, is not permitted to stand in matches featuring Australia because of the International Cricket Council’s neutrality rules.
Taufel’s nationality has prevented him standing in some of cricket’s biggest showpieces, such as the 2007 World Cup final, the Ashes, and last summer’s battle for the No.1 Test ranking between Ricky Ponting’s side and South Africa.
There have been loud calls from many former players and commentators in recent times to abolish the neutrality rule so the highest-profile matches feature the best umpires.
Taufel was the No.1 umpire when the 2007 World Cup final descended into farce because five officials did not know how many overs constituted a match, and forced Australia and Sri Lanka to return to the field and play in darkness.
He also could have prevented the Sydney Test of 2008 turning ugly, which nearly resulted in India abandoning their tour.
But ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat is adamant umpires of neutral nationality will stay, as impartiality was the preference over the best.
“You can’t have both sets of issues resolved with the same debate,” he said.
“You’re either going to have neutral umpires or you’re going to have the best irrespective, and the (ICC) cricket committee has supported the view it is better to have neutral umpires.”
Had Pakistan reached the Champions Trophy final instead of New Zealand, the ICC would have had to rule out Aleem Dar, just days after the Pakistani broke Taufel’s five-year stranglehold on the umpire of the year award.
Lorgat said the ICC would retain its position on umpiring neutrality to ward off claims of bias from parochial fans in contentious decisions.
“Simon can make an honest mistake just like any other umpire,” he said.
“But as soon as he’s standing in an Australia game against somebody and he makes that mistake, the majority of spectators will view that not as a mistake.
“That is human nature.
“The conservative approach is better to keep neutrality.
“It’s worked, it’s not been a failure at all, it’s not been a failure at all, it’s been a success.”
Under ICC rules Test matches must feature two umpires of neutral nationality, while one home umpire is permitted to stand in one-day internationals outside ICC events such as the world cup and Champions Trophy, alongside one official of neutral nationality.
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