"DRS may help bring back neutral umpires"

"DRS may help bring back neutral umpires"

ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said the decision review system may help do away with the need of neutral umpires in Test matches which will also reduce cost.

"It is probable that we will be able to go back to home umpires standing in Test matches. The integrity of the umpires cannot be questioned so easily when they have the DRS backing them up," Lorgat said.

The ICC had brought in a policy in 2001, under which no umpire is allowed to stand in a Test match involving his country. The policy was introduced in the wake of officials' integrity being questioned by the media and the players.

"If we can use home umpires, it will reduce cost substantially, and reduce the amount of time umpires have to spend away from home. Some good umpires don't want to stand on the elite panel because of the rigours of the lifestyle," Lorgat told Telegraph Sport.

Three of the best English umpires ? Peter Willey, Neil Mallender and Jeremy Lloyds ? have either refused to put themselves forward for the elite panel or have stood down because they did not enjoy the itinerant lifestyle.

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Lloyds had said that he was working 230 days a year, of which 150 were spent in airports or hotels.

Lorgat though admitted that standing in a home Test was not easy for umpires as it adds to pressure.

"At the moment, if a visiting umpire makes a mistake its one thing while if a home umpire makes the same mistake, it can be unfairly exaggerated," he said.

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