Association of Cricket Officials Issue 30 | Page 18

Amity, Altitude and Afridis –
Umpiring in Modern-day Pakistan
Aside from a solitary Zimbabwean tour in 2015, foreign teams have not toured
Pakistan since the horrific attacks in 2009. As Andy Flower’s latest tour with
the World XI has shown, cricket is well and truly returning to Pakistan and
Dorset’s Ian Vaughan-Arbuckle shares his experiences from his recent visit.
Pakistan currently has a dedicated
corps of proficient umpires. They are a
greatly under-used resource, and a
mark of giant change from the days
when Pakistan umpires were
demonised by the outside world.
White on Green – Richard Heller and
Peter Oborne 2016
Pakistan is cricket mad. If confirmation
of this was needed, over 20,000 Waziri
tribesmen packed into the Miranshah
Stadium, North Waziristan, in late
September 2017, to watch the
Wounded Tigers, a team of largely
modest cricketers from the UK and
Ireland, play a Pakistan Select XI,
including former Test stars Shahid
Afridi, Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Umar Gul.
Only a few years ago visitors to the
stadium, named after Pakistani ‘great’
Younis Khan, would have been more
likely to witness a beheading than
watch a cricket match.
Peter Oborne’s Wounded Tigers,
named after his prize-winning book
Wounded Tiger – A History of Pakistan
Cricket (2014), were there to play a
18
series of matches mainly in the
northern areas. I accompanied them as
their official umpire and stood in all
but one of the 13 matches played by
the Tigers. In most matches, my
colleague was a Pakistan Control
Board (PCB) qualified umpire, but in
village games I stood at both ends
with a player standing at square leg.
Many have their own preconceptions
about cricket, cricketers and
particularly umpires in Pakistan. This
article will record my own impressions
of Pakistan umpires formed during
this tour.
Over the years, Pakistani umpires have
attracted their fair share of criticism.
Idris Baig is a case in point. In the view
o