LAHORE: ICC Elite Panel umpire Aleem Dar, who recently joined the 100-Test club in international cricket, has expressed his concerns about the future of Pakistani adjudicators because of insufficient remuneration they get on domestic circuit.

“In Pakistan domestic cricket, match fees for umpires are very scanty. While Test and international cricketers in other countries are joining umpiring [due to better financial packages], the situation here in Pakistan is different,” Aleem said on Thursday while talking to reporters at a ceremony held here by his parent club P&T Gymkhana to honour the top-level umpire for achieving the milestone of supervising more than 100 Tests.

“I would suggest the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to invest more [in umpiring] if it wants to improve cricket and the standard of umpiring in Pakistan,” the 47-year-old, known for his high accuracy in giving umpiring decisions under tense situations, maintained.

Aleem earlier this month became only the third umpire in the game’s history to have officiated in 100 Test matches when he supervised the second Test of the ongoing series between South Africa and England in Cape Town.

Only Steve Bucknor (128 Tests, 1989-2009) of the West Indies and and South Africa’s Rudy Koertzen (108, 1992-2010) are ahead of Aleem but the Pakistani adjudicator is the youngest, aged 47, in completing 100 Tests.

“I wish a Pakistani umpire replaces me when I say goodbye to international cricket,” Aleem further said.

There are reports that the PCB has not raised domestic umpires’ daily allowance for the last three years.

The financial problems faced by the umpires have been compounded as for the last three years they have been getting Rs4,000 daily allowance. But now, the PCB has deducted Rs2,500 from their match fees per day to provide them accommodation in three-star hotel.

Furthermore, local umpires are also not getting conveyance allowance to reach the ground from hotel.

“We can hardly save Rs1,000 per day after bearing the conveyance expenses and that too by travelling by rickshaw and not by taxi,” a current domestic umpire told Dawn on condition of anonymity.

“It is just our passion for the profession [that keeps us going], otherwise, the remuneration is very less if anyone compares it with the tough job we have to perform as umpires,” he added.

Meanwhile, Aleem also urged the PCB to televise maximum number of domestic matches besides getting more sponsorships to bring improvement in the game.

“The local umpires match fees should be increased to make their future attractive,” said Aleem, who earned the top umpire award of the ICC in 2009, 2010 and 2011, besides also receiving the Pride of Performance Award in 2011.

“Thank God I achieved the [100 Tests] milestone and it is a great honour for me. I am also grateful to the PCB, ICC, P&T Gymkhana, its mentor Azhar Zaidi, Khalid Mahmood and Ashiq Qureshi, who all helped and encouraged me throughout my career,” Aleem, who has so far supervised 101 Tests, 178 ODIs and 35 T20 Internationals, said.

“I would also like to appreciate the role of my family members, who have been living without me at least six months in a year [due to my international umpiring duties] and that is not easy,” he stated.

Commenting on the current state of Pakistan cricket, Aleem regretted it was a great setback for the country that international cricket was not being held in the country, due to which players, umpires and other stakeholders had been suffering.

The umpire regretted that the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) next month was being held abroad.

“Though the PSL is good for our cricket, it is not a happy occasion for Pakistani fans who will not watch any match on their home soil,” he said.

Responding to a query, Aleem said he was in favour of Decision Review System (DRS), saying it prevents any chances of wrong decisions as a single such decision could end up on the wrong side.

However, he emphasised that DRS should be accepted by all the member countries in international cricket, noting it was creating problems for him due to inconsistency in applying DRS, because some countries are not ready to accept the system.

Meanwhile, shedding light on his academy, named ‘Aleem Dar Academy’, the umpire said he was coaching at the academy, among others, some deaf cricketers too.

In the next phase, Aleem added, he wanted to make a separate sports complex and an educational institution for them and for this the calm umpire sought help of Punjab government.

Former chairman PCB Khalid Mahmood and P&T Gymkhana president Azhar Zaidi also hailed the services of Aleem Dar.

Earlier, one-minute silent was observed in the memory of the martyrs who lost their lives in the deadly terror attack on Bacha Khan University, Charsadda on Wednesday.

The candles were also lit by a good number of cricketers of the Aleem Dar Academy.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2016