England complain to ICC about umpiring

England have sent a letter of complaint to ICC match referee Dennis Lindsay about the standard of umpiring during Saturday's one-day international against India, the BBC reported on Sunday.

India won the match in Calcutta, the first in a six-game series, by 22 runs, but England were upset over the leg before wicket decision made against opener Marcus Trescothick which they viewed as the key factor in their defeat.

"We've put a letter into the match referee stating our concerns over the officials last night," coach Duncan Fletcher was quoted as saying. "We felt the standard of umpiring was not up to international standard."

England seemed to be well on course for victory when the left-handed Trescothick, on 121, was given out lbw to a delivery from fast bowler Javagal Srinath which pitched well outside leg stump.

Trescothick's departure triggered an England lower-order collapse as the tourists last four wickets crashed for just 28 runs in six overs.

"We're absolutely frustrated by those sorts of things," England captain Nasser Hussain said after the match.

"But I would not like to dwell on them. The decision happened, let's put that behind us. We've got to get on with the game."

Fletcher stressed the need for neutral umpires in all international cricket matches.

"It's important that we get to a state of having two neutral umpires for all forms of international cricket - a home umpire could be influenced by the crowd out there at Eden Gardens and it is an extremely difficult job to do," Fletcher said.

The ICC is planning to institute a new system this April, once it has appointed an elite panel of umpires, whereby one-day internationals will be officiated by neutral umpires in the same way as test matches.

"It's nice to see that we have a situation soon where we'll have neutral umpires for one-dayers as well as Tests and that is the best way to look at it," Fletcher added.

Also read: - Trescothick's valiant effort in vain

England's tour of India : Complete coverage

Mail Cricket Editor