Ross Emerson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ross Emerson | ||||
 Australia |
||||
| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ross Emerson | |||
| Born | 26 February 1954 | |||
| Australia | ||||
| Umpiring information | ||||
| ODIs umpired | 10 (1996–1999) | |||
|
As of 8 September 2007 |
||||
Ross Alexander Emerson (born February 26, 1954) was an international cricket umpire from Australia who is best known for calling Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing. He also played grade cricket for Petersham-Marrickville in the Sydney grade cricket competition. He is the brother-in-law of former Australian swing bowler Terry Alderman.
After making his first-class umpiring debut in the 1982–83 season, Emerson was promoted to the National Umpires panel in 1993–94. He made his ODI debut in a match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies in Brisbane in January, 1996. He immediately became controversial, no-balling Muralitharan seven times. This led to Muralitharan being dropped by Sri Lanka for the rest of the tour, as he was unable to bowl without being called. Emerson continued to officiate in ODIs for the next three years, standing in nine more games, all in Australia, but it was his last game which overshadowed even the first. Standing at square leg, Emerson once again called Muralitharan, leading to Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga to lead his team off the field in protest and consult team management and the match referee. The match later continued, with Muralitharan confined to bowling legbreaks. Later, Emerson claimed that cricket was controlled by Asia.
Emerson was subsequently stood down, and then was not reappointed to officiate again. He subsequently retired from cricket, and as of November 2004, is the president of Swimming Western Australia. However, he remained defiant, saying that Muralitharan's action was worse than ever.
