Nitin Menon, one of the 12 umpires on the International Cricket Council (ICC) elite panel, is set to conduct the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB)’s elimination tests for umpires aspiring to the BCCI level.
The tests will be held on February 6 and 7 with Menon arriving in the city next Wednesday. The CAB’s idea behind such an endeavour is to maintain transparency and avoid any kind of manipulation and foul play in the selection process.
“Nitin will be present for all four parts of the tests: written, practical, video and viva. This is the first time an umpire of the ICC elite panel will conduct these elimination tests. Previously, these used to be done by BCCI-level umpires of the state association,” CAB umpires’ committee chairman Prasenjit Banerjee told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
“It’s an initiative of (CAB) president Snehasish Ganguly as all we want is to maintain transparency and ensure there’s no manipulation or foul play in selection. Thedeserving candidates need to be selected for the BCCI-level umpires’ examination(in June). That way, we can go on to have some quality international-level umpires from our state.”
In another first, women umpires Beauty Chakraborty, Binita Ray Mallick and Rashi Das will also feature in the upcoming tests.