Thaindian News

Dubai, June 29 (IANS) Australian umpire Daryl Harper has withdrawn from the third Test between India and the West Indies in the wake of some “unfair criticism” of his decisons by the Indian team.

Harper, who pulled out of the final Test in Roseau, Dominica, from July 6, was due to retire from the International Cricket Council’s elite panel of umpires after the match.

He will be replaced in the Test by Richard Kettleborough of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

“His decision was made despite the fact that the ICC had full confidence in him to officiate the remainder of the series,” ICC said in a statement.

ICC general manager David Richardson expressed his regret over Harper’s decision.

“In the wake of some unfair criticism, Daryl has informed us that he does not wish to stand in what would have been his final Test,” said Richardson.

“The reality of the situation is that Daryl’s statistics show his correct decision percentage in Tests involving India is 96 per cent, which is considerably higher than the international average for top-level umpires,” Richardson said.

“We have every faith in Daryl to finish the series and while we regret his decision, we do respect it. The real shame is it deprives him of the opportunity to sign off as a Test match umpire in a manner befitting someone who has served the game so well since making his international debut back in 1994,” Richardson added.

India were said to be unhappy with some of Harper’s decisions in the first Test at Kingston. After India beat West Indies by 63 runs, visiting captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said if the correct decisions were made, the game would have finished much earlier.

Harper, 59, has stood in 95 Tests, 174 ODIs and 10 Twenty20 internationals. He made his international debut Jan 14, 1994, at Perth in an ODI match between New Zealand and South Africa. In November 1998, he made his Test debut as Australia took on England in the Ashes at the same venue.