Adam Parore: Poor Australian umpires are nothing new

It's been like Groundhog Day hearing the frustrations of the New Zealand players over the umpiring in Australia in the past few days.

If you think this is a new development, forget it. This has been happening to touring teams in Australia for years. The charges are the same, the culprits are the same. It's just the way it is over there.

Let's be clear, umpires make mistakes just as players do. That's cricket. The issue here is whether the dud calls will even themselves out in the wash. They won't.

So, is it just plain poor decision making or is there an underlying element at play?

Remember the days when there was a widespread belief that umpires on the sub-continent were crooked, or at the very least highly incompetent, and officials in the rest of the world were okay? The fact is Australia's have frequently been as poor; it's just that they have been a bit more subtle.

The Pakistani or Indian umpires were capable of chopping off half a touring team in an hour or so and not even blinking.

The Australians are cleverer. They might make just one or two decisions against a touring team in the course of a game.

It is hard to mount a cast-iron case against them on those terms. But over the course of a series those bad calls mount up, and they can be the winning or losing of a game, or a series.

If it was possible to look at the numbers of poor calls in Australia's one-day tri-series going back over 20 years, I'd lay a hefty bet that the results would be staggering. At a guess I'd say the ratio of poor calls would be about 6-to-1 against the visiting teams.

Put it this way: when was the last time you saw Matthew Hayden or Ricky Ponting cop a real clanger from an Australian umpire? It just does not happen.

It's not just the Australian umpires who feel the pressure to do the right thing by their team. The neutral umpires, who have nothing against a touring side, are still under intense scrutiny. If in doubt there is an easy route: go in favour of the home team.

Queenslander Peter Parker, who gave Brendon McCullum leg-before in Sydney on Wednesday night with a real shocker, has long been a problem. I remember him from my playing days over there and he just seems to get it wrong for the touring team over and over again.

The International Cricket Council is wrestling with the issue of whether umpires should have full access to all technological aids. I say give it to them.

Let them go upstairs if there's a real question mark in their minds over a leg-before decision or a catch behind the wicket. It wouldn't unduly delay the game more than it already does and it would help remove the danger of umpires second guessing.

I suspect part of the problem is they are hamstrung because their cock-ups are on the big screen a few seconds after they've made them. Then if they try to balance the books they get deeper into strife. It's the old story about two wrongs not making a right.

Finally, Adam Gilchrist is a terrific batsman and pretty able wicketkeeper. But I just can't wear this holier-than-thou stance he has taken on batsmen walking.

He knew McCullum was not out in Sydney. He had dived to catch the inside edge, his face told the story.

But did he try to tell his captain that McCullum was not out? No way. It's all very well Gilchrist saying he will always walk, but it has to cut both ways.

And I'll guarantee there will come a time when Australia are in big trouble, maybe in a World Cup final or with an unbeaten record on the line, and he'll stand his ground.

Why? Because he'll know what will await him when he gets back to the pavilion, and, in any case, it's just part of the culture of the team. I believe what we have here is called selective morality.

Gilchrist has dug himself a giant hole and I haven't seen many of his team-mates queuing up to jump in after him.

* Adam Parore is a former New Zealand wicketkeeper