ICC TV coverage faces censorship claim after memo says umpire mistakes should not be highlighted

"Inherently in live television there are occasions when on field decisions cause reason for discussion or debate, but as ICC TV host broadcasters our duty is not to judge or highlight mistakes," the email reads

The ICC’s World Cup broadcast partner has told its production and commentary crew not to “amplify” umpiring mistakes or “show umpires in a bad light” in an in-house email which prompted an angry reaction from Michael Holding and will trigger accusations of censorship.

Huw Bevan, head of cricket at Sunset & Vine - the company employed to provide the ICC feed from this summer’s tournament - sent a memo to senior figures within his team on the ground in the UK on Friday, June 7, in the aftermath of Australia’s victory over West Indies at Trent Bridge.

In the email, the executive addresses a section of coverage which highlighted a large front-foot overstep by Mitchell Starc the delivery before he dismissed Chris Gayle, which was not spotted by the onfield umpires and should have lead to a free hit.

“Inherently in live television there are occasions when on field decisions cause reason for discussion or debate, but as ICC TV host broadcasters our duty is not to judge or highlight mistakes even though occasionally we are privy to technology and footage which gives us access,” Bevan wrote.

The front-foot overstep by Mitchell Starc which prompted the email

“We had an incident in the West Indies v Australia match where we highlighted on air during an analysis segment that a no ball should have been called on a delivery that was immediately prior to the one where Chris Gayle was dismissed.

“As such we intimated that a free hit should have been awarded. For the avoidance of doubt this is exactly the kind of thing that we need to avoid putting to air.”

The missive was sent to around two-dozen high-ranking members of staff, but only one commentator - Holding, who had called the umpiring performances by Chris Gaffaney and Ruchira Palliyaguruge during the West Indies-Australia match “atrocious”.

The Windies legend sent a strongly-worded response, in which he said “this just reminds me why I haven’t been working on ICC tournaments recently and have been loath to work in India on cricket owned by the BCCI as well.”

“I have been doing commentary now for approaching three decades and I see where commentators are being more and more compromised by controlling organisations to the point of censorship and I do not intend to go down that road.

“We are allowed to analyse players’ strengths and weaknesses, pick apart players’ techniques and faults yet when an umpire makes a cockup he is supposed to be protected?

“If those umpires yesterday were FIFA officials and had the same sort of day that they had, they would have been told to pack their bags and head home, they would not have been given another World Cup game to officiate.”

Holding went on to query whether or not he should report for duty at England’s clash with Bangladesh in Cardiff the following day. He has since returned to the commentary box.

“I know this is not football, although as a biased former cricketer I think cricket should be held to a higher standard, and I know this broadcast is ‘owned’ by the ICC but is the objective to protect umpires even when they do a bad job?” Holding wrote in his email.

“To whose benefit? The umpires who could be wrecking the careers of the people who really matter, the cricketers?”

Full email to production staff - June 7 "This is to remind you of the importance of maintaining the highest of standards and to uphold the game’s best values and spirit in all that we do while covering the tournament. Our duty at ICC TV is to reflect these values and not to cast doubt or negative judgement on anything associated with the tournament in our coverage. "Inherently in live television there are occasions when on field decisions cause reason for discussion or debate, but as ICC TV host broadcasters our duty is not to judge or highlight mistakes even though occasionally we are privy to technology and footage which gives us access. "We had an incident in the West Indies v Australia match where we highlighted on air during an analysis segment that a no ball should have been called on a delivery that was immediately prior to the one where Chris Gayle was dismissed. As such we intimated that a free hit should have been awarded. For the avoidance of doubt this is exactly the kind of thing that we need to avoid putting to air. "Before the event we went to great pains to explain to you all as senior production and commentary personnel of the need to avoid this kind of thing. It's critical for us that we should never amplify umpires mistakes by giving airtime to those incidents nor show the umpires in a bad light. We should also be very careful not to look to create controversy around an event or match at any time "This is therefore a strong reminder to you all to remember these values and to uphold the strongest of standards in our coverage for the rest of the tournament."

Our coverage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is brought to you in association with Cricket 19, the official video game of the Ashes. Order your copy now at Amazon.co.uk