Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson may have reduced themselves to laughing stock with a series of dubious decisions in the Sydney Test but ICC [Images] chief executive Malcolm Speed [Images] believes it was just a bad day in the office for the umpires.

Speed said it was just a bad match even though he stressed on the need for the officials do perform well to win the respect of the players.

"It's a difficult job made more difficult by technology and improvements in technology. I think we have the best umpires available.

"Generally they've performed very well. From time to time there is a bad match," Speed was quoted as saying by The Australian newspaper.

Both the umpires made a series of blunders, which influenced the outcome of the Sydney Test to a large extent.

Speed said umpires must maintain high standards if they expected players to respect their decisions.

"They're the issues we've been seeking to take out of the game. We want players to respect umpires and respect the umpires' decision.

"It's up to the umpires though to perform at a high level to ensure that the players respect their decisions," Speed  said.