Sticky Wicket August 2013

Sticky Wicket August 2013 The Excitement of Pre-Season

Endangered Species

Ghost Writer from the West

New Season So here we are again; another season is under way.

The winter solstice (to the uninitiated that’s the “shortest day of the year” and usually June 21st) is great as the next day is getting brighter and longer, thus leading towards the next cricket season.

With winter sports in the second half of their seasons, we cricket umpires need to start our season preparations and what an exciting and interesting place to commence our season at the Adelaide Zoo (albeit at night time). A lot of effort has gone into setting up this venue and

Pre-Season Excitement Just like players an umpires season starts well before the first ball is bowled. For the new umpire this start may be as early as this month as they undertake their first step to becoming an umpire as they participate in the Cricket Australia Level 1 course. For the slightly more experienced there is the Level 2 weekend where umpires begin the often 4-6 month task of completing the study and assessments involved. The development squad will kick off and our Grade Panel 1 umpires will also meet. To round off August we also have the SACUSA AGM. For the majority of umpires the pre-season is all about 1 week in September. (No not AFL grand final day!)

Starting on Wednesday night the 18th of September umpires will embark on their laws and playing conditions study followed that weekend by our State Umpiring Seminar, this year to be held at Thebarton Community Centre. The pre-season concludes with our final Laws study on Wednesday the 25th of September.

For some the season will start very quickly, Premier League starting on the 21st of September and the usual flood of trial games as we get closer to the season start.

Our pre-season program is designed to not only to prepare you for the season ahead but to get you thinking about cricket and umpiring after a winter of football (for those whose teams are doing well)…

These things are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous, eg: Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on my list.

More in later issues; does anyone have any araprosdokians?

The Toss A discussion occurred over lunch recently: one guest with just a glancing interest in cricket asked about the effect the toss has on a match. Many theories were put forward.

One asked what are the statistics of the toss winning team winning the match. The team winning the toss probably wins more times than losing but there probably is not much in it. Any clues from our cricket heads out there?

On the assumption that winning the toss has an advantage, (and that is always a given) there was a suggestion that why not, after the First Test toss is won, the following tests should have alternative teams’ captains having the right to choose if they bat or bowl first. Any thoughts?

Front Foot After Peter Siddle’s bowling of Jonny Bairstow in the 1st innings of the Second Test at Lord’s only to have it reversed when video evidence ruled the ball a foot fault no ball, one may wonder if top level teams’ management should perhaps fine each bowler for every front foot no ball, or at least when a wicket is reversed because of it! The watching public get pretty mad when it is our team bowling, so surely it has an adverse affect on the rest of the bowling team. Any thoughts?

(Ryan Harris normally has his foot half way across the line: he learnt the hard way!)

Have you ever wondered why so many bowlers (normally quicks) place their marker and then go back to their run-up with feet astride over the marker, without looking down?

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Endangered Species Umpires are an important part of the sporting environment.

Every year sports face the threat of shortages of umpires.

Abuse, Family, Work and even Technology are all putting the future of umpires at risk..

One Day … they could all be gone

OK so a bit of an exaggeration but is it such a stretch to suggest that umpire are a threatened if not an endangered species?

In recognition of this and in conjunction with Zoo’s SA, our umpiring family have decided to adopt another Endangered Species.

The Sumatran Tiger.

Umpires from SACA, ATCA and PDCA are all contributing $5 from their umpiring money along with the SACA to sponsor the Sumatran Tiger to the value of $1500.00 to help with their upkeep and the survival of the species.

Spotlight on Scorers FRANK STACE Frank was a cricket scorer who lived much of his life in Kensington, and who was born in North Adelaide. Perhaps auspiciously for a scorer, knowing the importance of correct numbers from the beginning of the match, Frank’s personal ‘game of life’ began on the first day of January in 1879. His family were true European SA pioneers, with his grandfather arriving in 1837 on the Coromandel, and his grandfather’s first wife sadly passing away within a few days after arriving in Glenelg, buried in the sandy surrounds because it was in the days before even a cemetery existed.

A scorer attached to the East Torrens Cricket Club since 1902, Frank was described as “a treasure” at the club in a report published in the local press in 1905. Regarded not only as a scorer at East Torrens, but as the club’s statistician as well, he was invited to join the executive committee in 1909 in a move that was intended to Photo courtesy of Geoff Sando symbolise the appreciation that was felt for the services he so ably provided.

Outside of cricket, Frank was a proud member of the Clayton Congregational Church Choir in the early twentieth century. An avid writer to the South Australian papers on a regular basis, commenting on a varied array of topics, Frank was comfortable speaking out. As late as 1944, just a few years before his death, he wrote most indignantly about his disgust with the bakers’ trial of not working weekends, forcing citizens to go without their fresh weekend bread. He was possibly NOT a paid up member of the Australian Labor Party.

Frank was fortunate enough – and obviously skilled enough – to be chosen as official scorer for South Africa’s match against South Australia during their first tour of Australia during the 1910/11 season. Similarly, he was scorer during the March 1912 matches played between England and South Australia. Married to Beatrice Lunn, and father to little Francis (who died in infancy) and Clara, who raised a family in SA, Frank was an Adelaide boy, born and bred, who found a way to be involved when the cricket world came knocking on South Australia’s door.

National Scoring Sticky Wicket is happy to report that Neil Ricketts has been appointed as the South Australian representative on a national scorers committee. This committee will be meeting this month to discuss all things scoring including..   

Community Scorer Training Live Scoring through My Cricket Representative Scoring

Kristen Thomas

Sticky Wicket Needs You Every month throughout the season a very small team of people (Tim Pellew) put in hours of work to bring you your Sticky Wicket newsletter. This is a newsletter for all umpires and all umpires should feel welcome to contribute. This year members of Panel 1 and the Development Squad will find out that they will be required to produce 1 story each for the newsletter (I guess they just found out)-ed but that is not enough to fill what is hoped to be a bigger and better newsletter than ever before. Adelaide Turf, Para Districts or indeed umpires from all associations are welcome to contribute. Send us your photos, stories about interesting happenings in your games, bad jokes, whatever you think will interest others.

Making a submission is easy, just type it in an email and send to Tim. Tim Pellew pellew@internode.on.net

Ghost Writer He’s a man of many talents, Peter Raftery, umpire and sightscreen operator with the SACA has now turned his hand to journalism. His debut article appearing in The Kimberley Echo newspaper on July 18 into his winter home town of Kununurra. Not a bad job either, we may enlist Peter for Sticky Wicket when he gets back to Adelaide. On another subject still involving Peter, he has been approached by the WACA to become an umpire trainer for his country region.

Note the 'keeper's soft gloves and tie!. Soft leather