‘I could have picked a fight with him,’ Justice (Retd.) Mudgal on ICC referee Jeff Crowe covering 10 rows above the sightscreen

Justice (Retd.) Mukul Mudgal slammed ICC match referee Jeff Crowe for not allowing spectators to sit n the balcony above the sightscreen at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. The reason was that Crowe didn’t want anyone to come in the eye-line of the batsman. But, Justice (Retd.) Mudgal begs to differ.

In an exclusive chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda’s Facebook page, Justice (Retd.) Mudgal spoke of an international match he had watched with his friends. For the record, he was appointed by the Delhi High Court in 2016 to oversee matches at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

“Only advantage I took was I took good seats, over the sightscreen. And, I must tell you tell you how these match referees function. Jeff Crowe got the first 10 rows covered, in the balcony which was well above the sightscreen... The balcony is above that (sightscreen). How can anybody disturb from there?” Justice (Retd.) Mudgal, who was a judge at the Delhi High Court, reasoned.

People move around in front of the sightscreen at Lord’s, says Justice (Retd.) Mudgal

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Justice (Retd.) Mudgal added that Jeff Crowe wouldn’t have done the same at Lord’s where spectators frequently keep on walking in front of the sightscreen.

“And, if Jeff Crowe was refereeing at Lord’s? Below the screen, people keep on walking from the Member’s Stand. He wouldn’t do it there. He had to do it in Delhi. I could have picked a fight with him, but I didn’t want the Delhi match to suffer. I was surprised,” added Justice (Retd.) Mudgal, who served as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court from 2009 to 2011.

He, however, could not recall which match it was. He said he is unsure, but it was either one of India’s matches at the 2016 World T20 or a match in a bilateral series versus South Africa.