Sticky Wicket Jan / Feb 2017

Sticky Wicket Newsletter of the South Australian Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association Established 1911

January / February 2017 Edition

Conversations from the Coach

FeBLUary Let’s talk about mental

National Country Cricket Championships: Golden opportunities for development

health

Blind Cricket Champs

History-making International in SA

Sticky Wicket—January / February 2017 Edition

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January / February

2017

Contents 3

From the President

4

New Twitter Handle

4

International Honours

5

Blind Cricket SA Glory

6

Australian Country Cricket Championships

7

Cricket and blues

8

Coach’s Corner

10

History-making International Effort

11

Events Calendar

facebook.com/sacricketumpiresandscorers @SACUSAOfficials

SACA Umpiring Coordinator Sarah Fry (appointments, availabilities, reports, votes and match coaches) 8300 3212 sfry@saca.com.au SACA Information Line (including details relating to inclement weather) 1900 950 598

Sticky Wicket Editor Kristen Thomas 0414 326 978 cricketwidow@y7mail.com

SACUSA Committee Main Contacts President Tony Trist 0408 828 129 Vice President Edward Branson 0448 689 976 Secretary: Michial Farrow 0435 872 215 secsacusa@hotmail.com Treasurer: Lynton Donisthorpe 0418 317 856

Patron Neil Dansie OAM

COVER: Mental health welfare is an aspect of life which is relevant to everyone. Cricket lends itself to providing blocks of time where friends can talk about how they are feeling. With that in mind, SACA highlights the importance of mental health awareness by supporting the FeBLUary Round in Premier Cricket. You can read more about this campaign and how you can help on Page 7.

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From the President Welcome back to the remainder of the 2016/17 season, as we approach the ‘pointy’ end of the season.

Firstly, as I was overseas at the start of the year, I would like to wish all our members a belated Happy New Year. I hope you enjoyed your break over the festive season.

From what I have heard from the umpire coaches, our umpiring panels across all grades have being doing a tremendous job. Keep up the good work through the rest of February and March.

The executive have been putting some promotional materials together for Easter Crockett Shield 2017, supplemented by some video content created by Kristen.

Keep an eye on the website and our social media channels over the next few weeks to keep updated with all the latest information about this historic competition.

We encourage all members to try and come along to this event, as it’s a wonderful weekend and a chance to meet interstate fellow officials and their families from Victoria.

Training for the Crockett Shield match is underway. These sessions take place at Adelaide University nets on every second Friday from about 5:30pm. For further details contact Craig Thomas or Michael Williamson.

Lets get all our younger members out there and lets get a good team together to win back the Crockett Shield. New involvement is always welcome.

The Blind Cricket Match fixture is still being negotiated at present, as we try to find a date suitable for both SACUSA and Blind Cricket SA. Check the website over the next couple of weeks for event details. All our members and families are encouraged to be involved in this happy and amazing match format so we can support our Blind Cricket mates by providing practice opportunities. SA/WA recently won the National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Geelong, and SACUSA are keen to support BSCA’s bid to continue their future success by providing a team against which they can play during the year.

Congratulations to Milind Gawde who represented SA umpires in the recent Cricket Australia Country Championships.

Also, congratulations to Allan Coulthard, who is standing as the SA representative in the national Indigenous Cricket Championships Imparja Cup, which takes place in Alice Springs, and is currently underway.

Coverage of the competition can be found online at nicc.cricket.com.au I would like to thank all our members for their continuing support of SACUSA and keep up the good work.

SACUSA President,

Tony Trist

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International honours

On 15 December 2016 Alan Croft and Kumar Chandrakumar umpired an Over 60’s One Day International match, Australia versus England, at Price Memorial Oval. Congratulations to both gentlemen on this prestigious appointment.

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Blind cricket SA

Glory During January our good friends at Blind Cricket SA competed at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Geelong and won the final when they formed a combined SA/WA team.

Chasing down 184 to beat Victoria’s total, SA’s Ricky Segura and Stephen Palmer formed a formidable partnership to bat through the entire innings of 16.3 overs.

SACUSA’s Tim Pellew teamed with Michael Clements (a longserving official in both the Victorian Blind Cricket Association and Blind Cricket Australia matches) to officiate in the Grand Final. Tim also is standing in the World Blind Cricket T20 Championships currently being held in India, which is testament to his skills within this very unique form of the game and the support he has lent to its community for a significant period of time.

This season has seen several challenges so far prevent the successful scheduling of a match between SACUSA and Blind Cricket SA. However, negotiations are in play with a view to finding a solution to this problem. SACUSA regards the support of Blind Cricket SA, by way of providing a team against which to play and practice their skills, to be an important contribution to the sustainability of all forms of cricket. It’s also an opportunity for members to experience a rewarding and illuminating involvement with a format of cricket that is both challenging and inclusive for all who play. Please consider playing for the SACUSA team when the match date is announced - you will be amazed at the skills required to play this form of the cricket at elite level.

Talk with Craig Thomas or Michael Williamson if interested or email Sticky Wicket at cricketwidow@y7mail.com.

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Australian Country Cricket Championships

SACUSA’s Milind Gawde recently secured an appointment to umpire in the Australian Country Cricket Championships, and was kind enough to recount his experiences in Sticky Wicket.

Congratulations, Mill, on receiving a well-deserved opportunity.

I had the privilege to umpire at the Australian Country Cricket Championships held in Wollongong, NSW, from 3rd to 11th January 2017. There were six teams in the Men’s division – New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and East Asia Pacific (consisting of players from Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Japan). Northern Territory was an additional team to the above teams in the Women’s division. The games were played in the One Day (50 overs) and T20 format.

The competition was very well organised by Cricket Australia and Cricket New South Wales. The venues for the all the games were picturesque and well maintained, had good facilities and had amazingly enthusiastic volunteers who left no stone unturned to make the competition a success. Though we had rain interruptions for the first four days, the games went ahead due to the support from ground staff and volunteers.

The games were of a very high standard and played in the true spirit of cricket. All the teams played good hard cricket and gave it their best. For the record, Queensland won the overall Men’s division and East Asia Pacific took the honors in the Women’s division.

Umpiring a competition is a unique experience where one umpires for days in a row, in comparison to umpiring over a weekend as most of us normally do. It was a good test of one’s umpiring skills, experience, physical and mental stamina while officiating in these games. Maintaining good discipline and consistent routines on and off the field, from the start of the day to finish, was highly critical to stay on top of the game. One had to reflect and recover very quickly in order to umpire consistently well. Lessons learnt had to be implemented quickly. The routines practiced while umpiring grade cricket were of a great help, as were the tips and feedback (informal and formal) given by the umpire mentor and the match referee.

It was interesting to observe and learn from the unique approach of the different umpires and techniques practiced by them.

The competition gave me a good understanding into the expectations of high performance umpires, and was the biggest insight for me, apart from the friendship and camaraderie established with umpires from the different states.

Last, but not least, I take this opportunity to thank SACUSA, SACA and Cricket Australia for giving me this opportunity and to all the officials, observers, players, umpires and volunteers who contributed towards this memorable experience.

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Cricket

and blues

SACA Umpiring Coordinator, Sarah Fry, shares SA Cricket’s hopes for support from cricket officials of an important mental health initiative ... beyondblue has shared a strong relationship with the South Australian Cricket Association since 2008 when the ‘FeBLUary’ initiative was launched with the aim of increasing awareness about depression, anxiety and related mental health disorders. Established by the Southern District Cricket Club before being introduced to the entire Premier Cricket competition the following season, FeBLUary has been going from strength to strength every year.

In order to showcase our commitment to the cause, each grade within Premier Cricket will have a FeBLUary round of matches. Please find below dates for this round for each Grade: Men’s Grades: 

All Grades – Saturday 11 February and Saturday 18 February (Round 11)



West End One-Day Cup – Sunday 19 February (Semi Final) (TBC)

Women’s Grades:  

1st Grade – Sunday 12 February (Round 7) 2nd Grade – Sunday 12 February (Round 7)

Junior Grades: 

All Grades – Saturday 11 February and Saturday 18 February (Round 10)

As Premier Cricket umpires your involvement in this initiative is very important and the purpose of this memorandum is to seek your support.

On the above rounds, please approach the home team and ask who their designated ‘FeBLUary Ambassador’ is.

They will have a FeBLUary Medal for the most outstanding Player of the Match.

At the completion of the matches on the above dates we would like both teams, officials and spectators to come together for the presentation of the FeBLUary Player of the Match Medal.

Home teams will be provided with a FeBLUary Player of the Match medal for each match. This medal is to be presented by the umpires officiating the match. The winner of the medal is to be determined by you and your partner based on: 

The player’s performance in the match



The player’s attitude towards the game, their team mates, the opposition and the umpires



The player’s behaviour and dress

I ask that when presenting the medal, either you or your partner say a few words explaining the importance of the FeBLUary Round and thank the players, officials and spectators for supporting this worthy cause.

In addition, please note that each team has been provided with a blue coloured SACA FeBLUary cap to be worn by the Ambassador during the above round.

I thank you for your help with all FeBLUary activities and look forward to working alongside you on this important initiative.

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Coach’s Corner with John Biddiss Panel 1 Umpire Coach – trying to on how they can improve themselves (in cases where they are happy for the advice to fill some pretty big shoes!

As you will now by know, I was asked to help fill in for Max Bartlett in the capacity of the Panel 1 Umpire Coach whilst he is recovering from health challenges. With Max’s ability to attend some meetings already, he is well on his way back, which is what we all want to see. In the interim, the role has kept me busy, and has offered me first-hand the sort of hard work Max has performed, and support requests Max has provided the Panel with.

be shared among colleagues), and any other on field or off field observations which might bring either some good coaching opportunities to improve all umpires or a funny scenario (ice breakers) that we all need to help make our umpiring more enjoyable (not at the expense of an individual, team or club).

The last point raised above, is an important one. Part of creating a successful meeting depends on umpires being willing to be open and honest with their views or opinions for the betterment of umpiring. I have already had a number of matters raised in confidence. That is fine and will always remain so. However, some matters do lend themselves to be shared generally, and I have already highlighted a couple of examples (that didn’t identify specific umpire, clubs involved or grades) at the first Umpire Panel Meeting last December. I wish to put it out there that any future discussions will be considered using the same approach.

Therefore, I encourage you all to keep this dialogue going in the knowledge that any “in confidence” discussion point will remain confidential, but will be used collaboratively where possible. Communication is the key to the success of these meetings.

Moving forward, I thought it appropriate to offer the following as a means to highlight what has been happening since my secondment commenced in December. So far across the two planned Umpire Panel meetings, a number of observations have been discussed and addressed in terms of technical on and off field management issues, and also the interpretation of key playing conditions. Primarily these issues have occurred in First Grade, but some of the scenarios could quite easily be encountered in the Second, Third and Fourth Grades too.

There are two further Umpire Panel Meetings to attend during the remainder of the season which will be conducted in similar fashion, with topical discussion points being shared based on what has been observed across the competition from Umpire Coach One example of feedback that has been received has been several observations that I Reports. Welcome discussions at these am personally not getting around to all Panel meetings will include umpires seeking advice

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1 Umpires anywhere near the frequency that Max achieved in the past. There is a significant reason for this and relates to the process that was set up at the commencement of this season. You all may or may not know that the Umpire Coaches have been allocated grade and community cricket club venues to attend across all local forms of cricket. Additionally, they have also been allocated one Grade Club at which to attend First Grade post–match meetings.

This process was introduced to help spread Umpire Coach resources across as much of the community as possible, whilst also maintaining the importance of managing the Post Match meetings. This process is new and like all processes is going to be reviewed at the end of the season, as the observation of me not getting to Panel 1 Umpires as much as in the past has been raised with SACA for consideration.

In addition to the technical on and off field observations and those shared through

discussions, in early February a new and exciting addition to Umpire Panel Meetings was trialed at Adelaide Oval No. 2, thanks to a quite innovative idea from Luke Uthenwoldt. Invitations were sent out for any umpires to attend a personal fitness training session. A small group did attend and enjoyed the experience. At the end of that session it was suggested that this kind of session could be melded into the Panel Umpire Meetings. As such, a second trial is being developed to coincide with the final Umpire Panel Meeting for this season in March. As you can see below, the group who attended appeared to enjoy shedding blood, sweat and tears for an hour or so. And Luke’s concentrated focus on all attendees and their welfare and health outcomes, as illustrated in the photo below, is deeply appreciated by those involved.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of this season,

John

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History-making International Effort Some in our SACUSA community would be aware that we have been very fortunate this season to have met an Irish lady, by the name of Mary Waldron, who has blessed South Australian cricket with both her playing and umpiring. After standing in some SACA matches, Mary also volunteered to play in SACUSA’s Stanton Cup team in November, and she made her mark with a very decent innings. Visa restrictions will prevent Mary from inclusion in our Crockett Shield team, but they haven’t stopped her creating history in South Oz, as she’s written herself into the record books as half of the first female umpiring team to officiate in a SACA senior male fixture.

Mary joined Eloise Sheridan to achieve this SA first, with West End fourth grade teams from Woodville and Tea Tree Gully being the teams officiated by the female pairing. Making her international cricketing debut for Ireland’s Women’s Team in 2010, Mary has embraced many sporting opportunities presented to her while travelling the world, and has been thoroughly enthusiastic about SACUSA participation during her stay in our State. In fact, Mary just might be the only international female cricketer who has played in a SACUSA team in our 105 years of existence. Paul Wilson, who currently sits on Cricket Australia’s National Umpiring Panel and who is a former international cricketer for Australia, was part of SACUSA’s Crockett Shield team in 2011, showing that the Association even gathers support from people involved at the elite level of the game. It’s certain Mary will be missed by her new South Aussie umpiring friends when she leaves SA in 2017, evidenced by the many admiring remarks Sticky Wicket has heard from colleagues she’s stood with during the current season.

Further information about this historic milestone for females in cricket can be found on SACA’s website at saca.com.au/news/female-umpiring-pair-make-history/2016-12-19

Mary starring in the SACUSA Stanton Cup side in November 2016 at Woodville Oval

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Events Calendar February 8th

6pm onwards

SACUSA General Member Meeting @ Woodville Cricket Club (free BBQ tea included)

10th

5.30pm onwards

Crockett Shield Practice @ Adelaide University Nets

10th to 13th

Sheffield Shield Redbacks v Victoria @ Adelaide Oval

16th

6.30pm to 8.30pm

SACA Panel 1, 2 and 3 Training Night B1 Media Room (B1 level of Riverbank Stand) @ Adelaide Oval

22nd

1.35pm

Southern Stars v New Zealand T20 @ Adelaide Oval

7.20pm

Australia v Sri Lanka T20 @ Adelaide Oval

24th

5.30pm onwards

Crockett Shield Practice @ Adelaide University Nets

25th to 28th

Sheffield Shield Redbacks v Queensland @ Adelaide Oval

March 8th

6pm onwards

SACUSA General Meeting @ Woodville Cricket Club (free BBQ tea included)

9th

TBC

Panel 1, 2 and 3 Training Night

10th

5.30pm onwards

Crockett Shield Practice @ Adelaide University Nets Sticky Wicket—January / February 2017 Edition

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March (continued) 17th

5.30pm onwards

Crockett Shield Practice @ Adelaide University Nets

22nd

Evening

Bradman Medal Presentation @ Adelaide Oval

25th &

SACA Premier Cricket Grand Finals

26th

April 14th to 17th

Easter Crockett Shield SACUSA v VCAUSA in Adelaide

May TBC

6-45pm

15th Annual SACUSA Presentation Dinner

August TBC

SACUSA AGM

*Please note that the SACUSA Golf Day hasn’t yet been scheduled.

Looking for

Volunteers to take photos during Crockett Shield If you’re interested in finding out more about this longstanding SACUSA / VCAUSA tradition held over the Easter weekend every two years, AND you dabble or immerse yourself in photography, then SACUSA would be interested in talking to you about visually recording the event at one of more of the functions.

Please contact Lynton Donisthorpe at lyncar@iprimus.com.au if you’d like to contribute your photography skills to this historic event.

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