JEDDAH: Jeddah Cricket Association (JCA) recently conducted a seminar and workshop on umpiring under the guidance of renowned international umpire Khizer Hayat from Pakistan. Hayat, a former first-class cricketer who became international umpire, is serving in Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as an advisory member for umpiring. He served for 18 years as umpire and officiated the international matches mainly from 1978 to 1996. Hayat who hails from Lahore, was among the representatives on the first international panel of umpires, set up by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ensure that one neutral umpire would stand in every Test match. Later this system was supplemented by the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires. Speaking at the seminar, Hayat underscored the importance of umpiring and said an umpire is a judge or a legal guardian on the field who should be fair enough to pronounce the judgments in the best possible way, with no barriers on him. He said: “In umpiring there are lot of things one can gain like; name, fame and, of course, money. But to attain all these, one should be farsighted and his presence of mind always counts the best. With the arrival of latest technology, umpiring has now become a technical expertise with at least 20 cameras focusing from different angles for the same action, to prevent any human errors.” However, in the past this technology was not available and the task of umpiring was a real challenge. After the lecture on umpiring and rules, Hayat handed over a printed book on umpiring written by him to JCA President Mohammad Iqbal and Vice President Aijaz Ahmed Khan. Plaques of appreciation were given to qualified umpires from Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) – Ziauddin Nayar and Aleem Khan Falaki – who had rendered their voluntary services in officiating matches in Jeddah in the late 1970's. Plaques of appreciation were presented to Kumar Krishnan, Syed Viqaruddin, Zahid Khan, Syed Ashfaque Hussain, Hussain Abbasi, Amjad Mehmood, Zaheer Peeran, to all the participants of JCA registered clubs and the budding cricketers. Chris De Klerk General Manager Gedac also attended the seminar. The program was anchored by Syed Majeed Ul Hassan and A.A. Merchant. __
