West Indies [ Images ] manager Clive Lloyd [ Images ] and South Africa [ Images ] coach Mickey Arthur have criticised the decision to remove umpire Steve Bucknor [ Images ] for the third Test between Australia [ Images ] and India [ Images ].

The International Cricket Council [ Images ] axed Bucknor in favour of New Zealand's [ Images ] Billy Bowden for next week's match in Perth after India demanded the 61-year-old West Indian be stood down following a series of blunders in the second Test in Sydney [ Images ].

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"That's just silly, you can't do that," former ICC [ Images ] match referee Lloyd told a news conference on Tuesday.

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"Does that mean when anybody says they don't want a particular umpire we're going to move them?

"The ICC is wrong...it's a bad decision. What happens if a couple of other umpires make a mistake? Are they going to get rid of all of them? I find it very strange."

Arthur echoed the views of former West Indies captain Lloyd.

"If we don't like a particular umpire can we also have him removed?," said Arthur.

"They have set a precedent and I don't know if it's a particularly good one. It looks a bit of a mess."

The third Test between South Africa and West Indies in Durban starts on Thursday.