Former Australian captain Ian Chappell believes the umpiring standards had dropped of late and blamed the International Cricket Council for it, saying the game's governing body had "diluted the authority" of the on-field officials.
"The ICC, or whoever it is that runs the game, has diluted the decision-making process of the umpires on the field and in doing that they have diluted the authority of the umpires on the field," Chappell said.
Chappell, who was speaking in the backdrop of the Sydney Test which was marred by on-field skirmishes between players of the two teams and poor umpiring decisions, said umpires were not afraid to take big decisions.
"Now you've got this stupidity of captains being asked to dob in the opposition for racial slurs. It's ridiculous.
"So I think once you start diluting the decision-making process of the umpires, you get a bunch of umpires who really don't want to make decisions," he was quoted as saying by the 'Herald Sun'.
"They are happier referring decisions or somebody else, taking it out of their hands. So if you are going to breed umpires like that, then no, they haven't got the capability of running the game on the field."
{{/usCountry}}"They are happier referring decisions or somebody else, taking it out of their hands. So if you are going to breed umpires like that, then no, they haven't got the capability of running the game on the field."
{{/usCountry}}