Baroda Cricket Association
Reviews and Complaints

[protected]@yahoo.com SUHAS L SAPRE “TRIMURTI
LETTER NO: SLS/VRD/42/2010/02 25/4, PANCHVATI SOCIETY,
NAVJIVAN, AJWA ROAD,
BARODA: 390 019.
DATE: March 8, 2010
TO,
Shri Shashank Manohar,
The President
The Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI),
45, DHANTOLI,
NAGPUR

Respected Sir,

STICKY MATTER
WE ARE UMPIRES- RESOLVE UMPIRES’ DISPUTE URGENTLY

We are raising question about our efficiency and caliber that we are more concerned about your ignoring all these letters and thus the delay in this regard will have a significant effect on loss of quite a good invaluable time.

The BCCI must probe in this regard and the accountable officials should be taken to task for spoiling the career of so many deserving and talented umpires. The BCCI’s present working committee must clean up the mess to settle the long pending issue in favour of such Sr. umpires who have devotedly served their respective associations and still continuing not for monetary gain but to achieve a goal in life and to get recognition of the BCCI first class umpire.

We are committed umpires. We shall feel proud to fulfill our dream even if we get a few years of umpiring in the Indian first class cricket, . The BCCI is really destroying the potential umpires around their affiliated associations. There are a few umpires, to count on fingers, who are struggling and seeking justice from the BCCI for their continuing services to their respective associations.

How much time does a man need to blossom into a force to reckon with? How far down the progress umpires are required to achieve a goal and get recognition? We are as good as the other umpires, but we are fallen short just for one reason that we have not been given enough of opportunity and when it came, we were literally deprived off it. Deserving though, we are put on sword by some unknown disarray.

HOW THINGS MESSED UP?

The turning point, arguably, the sudden reduced age criteria in the only 2006 examination which was withdrawn for the 2008 exam, resulted many umpires were deprived of an opportunity to appear in the 2006 exam though eligible had not been the age reduced. How BCCI had suddenly reduced eligible age criteria (from 45 to 40) for 2006 exam only and again restored to 45 for the next 2008 exam. Had not the BCCI acted against a certain eligible Sr. Umpires who had to wait for last 10 years after the 1997 exam? And was not the Board responsible for the Umpires who had to miss 2006 exam after restoring the age criteria to 45 for the 2008 exam.

Sudden reduced age criteria in 2006 exam sent packing most Sr. Umpires of all the association around the country. The BCCI has no reply to this mess. We don’t want our talent and potential to go waste. We are not going to stop and we will not tolerate all these injustice. We will keep knocking the doors of BCCI till we get justice. When 2006 exam was held after almost a decade, after it was last held in the year 1997, the BCCI should have been open-mindedly allow many Sr. Umpires who had appeared and could not get thorough in 1997. This would have been a great boon to the Sr. Umpires, who were then made ineligible for the 2006 exam following sudden reduced age criteria and had to miss 2008 exam just by 1 or 2 years of overage.

APPEAL TO REVIEW OUR TALENT AND EXPERIENCE

Hope is the spring board of all activity. A new hour, a new dawn and a new year, all hold out hope. A good turn of events for some one else can kindle the hope in us. Grief might blur one’s vision but the flicker of hope helps us navigate the darkness of despair.

While we do not know who and what made the mess of 2006 by reducing eligible age criteria in 2006 exam, which still pinches us, depriving us an opportunity. Our disappointment at having been overlooked should not be seen as instance of personal anguish.

It is an ugly picture but it is important to understand the nature of our passion and madness and love of umpiring. What we’ll probably see over the next few years is a painful process of muddling throng.

We have two eyes, our one eye is very happy to have enjoyed our umpiring through these years till date but the other eye is struggling and crying and is eager to see we stand in at least one Ranji Trophy match.

As we go down the path of self awareness, our question always comes up is how much of our actions are dictated by destiny? How much of life is a result of our conscious choice? Are we the master of our destiny? Or are we mere puppets in the larger scheme of things?

We choose the career we want to pursue, decide the food we want to eat, resolute the extent of hard work we put in, have the freedom to choose our leisure activities and so on. So how can the BCCI act against the nature and deprive what we deserve.

After reviewing earlier unfair mess resulting in Sr. Umpires not getting an opportunity, the BCCI Umpiring Working Committee has to manipulate and devise following policy to get them a fair chance of appearing in the examination.

• Allow one master opportunity to those umpires,
(i) who had appeared and failed in the 1997 exam
(ii) who had to miss 2006 exam for the BCCI reduced age criteria mess
(iii) who have been still in the job with their respective associations
(iv) who have been victimized by the biased officials of the respective
Associations and their names were not proposed

• A separate exam should be called for,
• One week seminar must be held for all those Sr. Umpires for their preparation of the exam
• Exam should be held in line with the 2006 and 2008 policy, no different policy should be adopted.
• The passing mark should be 80% and not 90%.

• No association should be allowed to be biased on any of their Sr. Umpires. If this happens, such umpires should be allowed directly on the basis of their past records.

HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OUR MISERY:

• When a person is literally crying for not getting an opportunity after great dedication and devotion by serving the various associations and institutes/ clubs for last 25 years as an umpire…..
• When a candidate contests election & could not win he waits eagerly for the next election to succeed and when umpire appears & fails obviously he waits for next opportunity…..
• When a person fails in 1997 exam, what else he should have expected, then an opportunity to make another attempt in the examination…
• When a matriculate candidate / student fights and wins the battle by passing examination of matriculation at the age beyond 50 years recently, what else an umpire expects ….
• A person sending 40 odd letters, through email and post, to get the justice from the BCCI in this connection when he is not getting justice…..
• When a person does not get his reward after hard, honest and sincere work what else he expects….
• What if a person holds a high qualification regarding umpiring experience and deserves to get on the BCCI panel, and still he is ignored, whether BCCI sympathize with him or not is a billion dollar question….
• When a person does not opt for any promotion in his personal service career just for the sake of his love and dedication towards cricket umpiring and scoring, irrespective of its fetching a dole of finance…what reasons make him do so?
• What a person wishes when he continuous his services as an umpire for the association for number of years…what he dreams for?

In view of the above, would the President take interest in this regard and help to resolve the matter to end the apathy of Sr. Umpires who are factually praying for a clemency to get appreciation of the BCCI panel umpire?

We just pray God to shower his grace on us so that we can simply unfold our wings in delight and the BCCI draws out a certain platform to make us flatter.

Yours faithfully,

SUHAS SAPRE & VIVEK DONGRE
(BCA LEVEL-III UMPIRES)
Encl: 6-PAGE Resume of Suhas Sapre sent separately as an annexure to this letter