Two umpiring debuts and an unspoken truth
In the last five days, two Bangladeshi umpires debuted as on-field officials in List A cricket in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) to vastly different receptions.
One of them is part of the ICC development panel of umpires, has officiated in international matches and has even played cricket at the highest level. The other debutant, on the other hand, doesn't have a stamp of approval from the ICC yet and has mostly umpired in age-level cricket.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The first umpire, who has the experience of officiating matches in an ACC event, stood in a Super League match of DPL. Although the teams competing in that game are big names in the country's club cricket scene, the match itself had very little at stake in the title race with defending champions Abahani Limited leading the points-table by some distinction.
The other umpire, one who is still largely untested at the highest level, officiated in the final match of the relegation league, where the winner would remain in the top flight next season and the loser would get demoted to the lower division.
But while officials of Gazi Tyre Cricket Academy and Rupganj Tigers Cricket Club didn't express any reservation about the appointment of a debutant umpire in their high-stakes relegation league match on Monday, over at the Super League, neither Mohammedan Sporting Club nor Prime Bank Cricket Club were happy with the new umpire.
Their dissatisfaction became known on Friday, a day after the game, when Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu, chairman of Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) umpires' committee, told The Daily Star, "They [club officials] made comments about being unhappy [regarding the appointment]. They did not make the complaint to me but did so to the CCDM."
Officials from both clubs denied complaining to the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) and adamantly said that their main objection was the umpire's lack of experience.
"We felt that this match needed a better umpire, but we didn't make any official complaints," Mohammedan's cricket organiser Tariqul Islam Titu told The Daily Star.
Even Abahani coach and Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) director Khaled Mahmud Sujon said in 'big matches' only experienced umpires should be appointed.
"In big matches, I think, there should be umpires with experience because the on-field pressure is a big thing," Sujon told reporters in Mirpur on Monday, right when another umpire was making his List A debut in a do-or-die match in the relegation league at BKSP in Savar.
Sujon, club officials and even the media had nothing to say about the second debutant as it hardly gained any traction and pretty much went under the radar while the debut of the first umpire has spiralled into an entire fiasco.
Why the starkly different reactions to the same occurrence, you may ask. And the answer is painfully obvious, hidden in plain sight but remains unspoken.
It's because one of them is a he and the other a she.
'Why complain when the umpire can't be changed'
Shathia Zakir Jessy, a former Bangladesh women's team cricketer who after calling time on her cricketing career began her journey as a professional umpire two years ago, officiated in the Mohammedan-Prime Bank match and has been at the centre of a debate which is getting more and more heated every passing day, much like the current weather in Bangladesh.
The name of the other umpire is Zahedur Rahman Shamim, whose debut didn't make headlines anywhere.
Jessy's first match as an umpire held extra significance as never before had a female umpire officiated a match in the DPL.
So, when she stepped out onto the field as one of the umpires, it was a sight the veteran club officials had never seen before and were clearly taken aback by it.
"We didn't know that a female umpire had been appointed for the match. We all know that the female umpires in Bangladesh don't have a lot of experience. We did not complain, but we expected umpires who regularly officiate in the DPL since it's a big game," Prime Bank team manager Sikder Abul Hashem Kongkon told The Daily Star.
And from Sikder's next statement, it seemed like the only thing that kept them from complaining was because it was already too late to change the match official.
"We didn't complain before the match, we were discussing amongst ourselves. What would have it brought by letting them know?... There was no opportunity to change [umpire] instantly."
Changing times
Female officials in men's game is no longer a novel concept in the world of sport. Just as the Jessy issue was gaining wind in the country, Serie A, a league which often makes headlines for incidents of racist abuse players face on the field from fans, saw an all-female referee team take charge in a match between Inter Milan and Torino on Sunday.
Even in Bangladesh, female referees are often seen conducting matches in the women's league. Salma Akter, who is in the AFC Elite Panel, had worked as an assistant referee in the country's top-flight football competition, the Bangladesh Premier League, back in 2021.
In last year's April, New Zealand's Kim Cotton became the first female umpire to stand in a men's international match, a Twenty20 encounter between Sri Lanka and the hosts' Kiwis in Dunedin.
Australia started using female umpires in their first-class competition, the Sheffield Shield, last year and other top cricket nations are also taking steps to introduce female match officials to the highest level.
So, if the BCB officials are trying to go the same route by preparing Jessy and other female umpires for bigger assignments by making them officiate matches in the DPL, it is a step that needs to be appreciated.
Thinly-veiled attempt at justification
There have been some talks about a decision Jessy had made in the match against Mohammedan's Habibur Rahman, where she gave the batter out LBW even though the ball had seemingly contacted the gloves.
There have been some attempts on social media by fans and even some media outlets to justify the reservations shown by the clubs about Jessy with this contentious decision.
But such hoopla about one wrong decision by an umpire on debut in the DPL seems a bit rich considering the tournament's track record.
Just a few seasons back, Shakib Al Hasan had infamously kicked the stumps after an LBW appeal of his, which looked quite adjacent, was turned down. That same season, Mahmudullah remained motionless with his hands on his head for a few minutes, seemingly in disbelief about a decision made by the umpire.
The state of umpiring in the lower divisions is seemingly even more abysmal.
In 2017, Lalmatia Club's Sujon Mahmud had conceded 92 runs in four legal deliveries deliberately with 15 no balls and 13 wides and Fear Fighters Sporting Club's Tasnim Hasan had conceded 69 runs in seven legitimate deliveries in second division matches, in protest of biased umpiring.
Both cricketers were handed 10-year bans by the board for their protest, but the ones they had protested against were unaffected.
So, discrediting Jessy as an umpire and justifying the stance of the clubs based on one wrong decision hardly seems fair.
Misdirection and defamation
The issue became even more convoluted due to some overzealous media houses claiming online that veteran cricketers like Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Tamim Iqbal, who were involved in the match, had opposed playing under a female umpire, a completely baseless claim.
A shameless attempt to get some clicks from such media diverted the matter in a different direction and tainted the image of some established cricketers.
The reservations expressed by the clubs against Jessy as an umpire is an opportunity for Bangladesh cricket to identify the inherent misogyny that exists in the institution, learn from it and make progress.
However, right now, mostly owing to irresponsible journalism from some outlets, this matter has floundered in too many directions and the crux of the matter has become lost in the shuffle.
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