of an international panel of umpires, the appointment of top English umpire Harold (Dickie) Bird for the recent Test series between the West Indies and Pakistan was not well received by that body.

It was mainly the manner in which the appointment was made, said WICUA secretary Johnny Gayle yesterday on the the final day of the association's week-long biennial conference here in Bermuda.

"We understand Pakistan requested a neutral umpire,'' said Gayle who added that he believed Bird's trip to the Caribbean for the three Test series was sponsored by the National Grid Company, an electrical firm in England. That firm also sponsored Jamaican umpire Steve Bucknor's visit to South Africa earlier this year and they are also sponsoring the World Conference of Umpires in Birmingham, England, in August.

"Frankly we were a bit disappointed (with Bird's appointment). But Dickie Bird is a popular umpire and is the most senior umpire in the world at present and has done 50 Test matches.

"We a bit taken aback. The first time I got an official advice on the matter was when I got a condition of play for the three Test matches.'' Bird proved to be very popular with the West Indies crowds though an incident in Antigua where he dropped his trousers on the field to receive treatment for a bruised back certainly stunned and disappointed many spectators.

"We deplore something like that,'' said Gayle. "We thought it was very disgraceful. He could never do it in England. If one of our umpires did that we would take a very serious view of it. There can't be any justification for it.'' Amongst the many issues discussed in Bermuda this week by the 45 visiting umpires, consistency in the interpretation of cricket laws was a hot topic.

Umpires from different countries interpret some laws differently, says Gayle.

"Wide and no-balls are one particular instance,'' he said. "In Australia they call a ball that goes over the batsman's shoulder in a one-day game a no-ball whereas in the West Indies we call it a wide. So we need to have these conditions conform rather than one country playing one set of rules.

"We have also discussed the duty of the stand-by umpire. We want to standardise that and one of the innovations that we have put forward is that the stand-by umpire should be responsible for (supervising) the rolling of the pitch and this would give the two officiating umpires the chance to relax between innings.'' It was also suggested at the conference that there should be a law to penalise batsmen who damage the pitch when either batting or running between the wickets.

"If a bowler damages the pitch in his follow through he can be taken off but you can only warn the batsman,'' Gayle pointed out. "Some of them do it deliberately.'' Two other suggestions call for all Test umpires on the panel to be examined to determine their physical condition while there was also a call for a retirement age to be implemented for Test umpires. "But we haven't selected the age at which they should retire,'' Gayle admitted.

Gayle is a former Test umpire himself, having officiated at the first-class level for 20 years before retiring two years ago, though he still does local matches in his native Jamaica. He has been the president of the Jamaican Umpires Association and secretary of the WICUA since 1985.

The conference, which is held every two years, will next take place in St.

Vincent.

LEARNED COLLEAGUES -- Douglas Sang-Hue, left, and WICUA secretary Johnny Gayle.