Umpire Shawn Craig at centre of ball tampering allegations in India A vs. Australia A match risks plunging into ‘nightmare’

Fellow umpires are worried Shawn Craig plunged himself into a “nightmare” after accusing India A of ball tampering, but have backed him for standing his ground.

Umpire Shawn Craig has been lauded for his initially bold stance against India A but fellow umpires believe scrutinising the shady world of ball doctoring has become a “nightmare.’’

Craig was the centre of a bizarre pre-match exchange with the Indian A team in Mackay on Sunday when he told the tourists their ball had been changed overnight due to scratch marks.

Craig was caught on the stump microphone telling Indian fieldsman “no more discussion, let’s play … you scratch it, we change the ball.’’

The umpire, a no-nonsense former Victorian Sheffield Shield player, also had a terse exchange with Indian keeper Ishan Kishan who called the decision “stupid’’ prompting Craig to say: “Excuse me. You’ll be on report for dissent.’’

But, in a development which drew comparisons with the infamous Monkeygate scandal when the thought of offending mighty India prompted Australia to soften its stance against spinner Harhajan Singh after he was accused of calling Andrew Symonds a monkey, there were no post game charges.

Shawn Craig speaking to Indian players on Sunday in Mackay. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images.

Under a local playing condition, a ball can be replaced if the umpires are uncertain whether it has been tampered with and no five run penalty is handed to the bowling team.

Former international umpire Tony McQuillan lauded Craig’s courage but felt he could have been more diplomatic in his dealings with the Indians.

“More power to Shawn for not ignoring their actions,’’ McQuillan said.

“But it is important that officials actions and language does not further provoke or inflame.

“It is fine being official but you don’t want to be officious. I felt Shawn should have had the other umpire with him if it was official.’’

“Ball tampering accusations can be a nightmare for umpires because players obviously try and hide what they are doing. Unless you have television footage (in this case there wasn’t any) it becomes a matter of one man’s word against another.

“Ball tampering is one of those things that will never be properly rubbed out of the game.

Another international umpire said he smiled when he saw Craig’s frank exchange with the Indians before play.

“That’s just Craigy – he is very frank,’’ the umpire said. “It was very direct stuff but that’s good. It was quite old-fashioned but he got his point across. Good on him.’’

While India A prepare for their second match against Australia A in Melbourne the main Indian team is under fire after losing the Test series 3-0 to New Zealand in India.

The reaction has been hostile with former spinner Harbhajan Singh saying “turning pitches becoming our enemy … Been saying for many years, team India needs to play on better pitches.’’

Batting great Sachin Tendulkar asked “Was it lack of preparation? Was it poor shot selection of lack of match practice?”