Sticky Wicket 2013-14 Issue 4

Sticky Wicket Patron: Neil Dansie

November 2013

Simon Fry Finalist, Sport Official of the Year

Your Umpire’s Association SACUSA Committee—Main Contacts

SACA

Ted Branson (President) - 0448 689 976

Neil Poulton (Umpiring Manager) - 0416 623 518

Craig Thomas (Vice President) - 0434 165 310 Michial Farrow (Secretary) - 0435 872 215

8300 3211 Sarah Fry (Competitions Coordinator) - 0418 674 106

secsacusa@hotmail.com

8300 3244

Lynton Donisthorpe (Treasurer) - 0418 317 856 Amy White (Umpire Admin Officer) - 8300 3874 Sticky Wicket (for your, hopefully, contributions) Inclement Weather Information Line - 1900 950 598 Tim Pellew 0414 58 58 42 pellew@internode.on.net

facebook.com/sacricketumpiresandscorers Laws of Cricket The 5th Edition of the 2000 Code of the Laws of Cricket came into effect on Tuesday 1st October 2013 . Copies are available from Neil or Amy for $5.

Sticky Wicket understands that the changes are not mind-blowing nor hard.

And has anyone called a no ball yet if the bowler dislodged bail/s of the non-striker’s wicket during a delivery?

(New to Law 24).

Animated New Laws of Cricket The MCC (at Lord’s that is) has released a Laws animated feature. With the blessing of the MCC (at Lord’s that is) and with SACUSA’s thanks to them. It can be viewed at:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMnF7vW2Mvk6nbkwzhytJlfSX6Qw1QeH6(new I think you can click on this link for direct access to this animation if you view this edition of Sticky Wicket through our web page: younger members will do this in their sleep whilst those of us over 50 or so may have to think!!

Snow good this joke!

On a bitterly cold winters morning a husband and wife were listening to the radio during breakfast.

They heard the announcer say, "We are going to have 8 to 10 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snow ploughs can get through.

"So the good wife went out and moved her car.

A week later while they are eating breakfast again, the radio announcer said, "We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today.

You must park your car on the odd numbered side of the street, so the snow ploughs can get through.

"The good wife went out and moved her car again.

The next week they are again having breakfast, when the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 12 to 14 inches of snow today. You must park...."

Then the electric power went out.

The good wife was very upset, and with a worried look on her face she said, "I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snow ploughs can get through?"

Then with the love and understanding in his voice that all men who are married to blondes exhibit, the husband replied, "Why don't you just leave the car in the garage this time."

Para Districts Para Districts is once again set up with 5 senior Grades, with a combination of 2 and 1 day games, and 3 grades that play 1 day games only.

At the time of writing, we’ve completed 2 Rounds of 2 day games, and once again in Grade 1 Premiers, Rose & Crown, and traditional stalwarts Salisbury West, have emerged as pace-makers, with Virginia and Central United not far behind. “Westies’, smarting from a first innings loss in Round 1, came back and blitzed Craigmore outright in Round 2. At the other end of the table, newly promoted Riverside and Eastern Park are finding it tough going in the top tier.

In the preliminary SAMCA Twenty/20s last Sunday, Salisbury West and Rose & Crown won through and will be representing PDCA in the next round. Umpires appointed to these games were Terry Jeffrey, Jon Lind, Andrew Martin and Shane Serbert, who all had a great day.

We are delighted to report a surprising growth in membership, with 3 brand new umpires (and a 4 th on the horizon) being inducted into our program: PDCA has agreed to meet the expenses involved in ‘pairing them up’ for the first few rounds. On top of this, two former, very experienced colleagues have returned to the ranks. This means that if everyone is available (and how often does that occur, Neil?) we can cover all 5 top grades with an umpire – unprecedented in PDCA! Where an umpire is only available for one week, this enables us to cover one of the one day matches.

When in Rome….?

"I came to Rome thinking I probably wouldn't play much cricket anymore, but it looks like there's going to be a very good standard."

Father Tony Currer, club cricketer cum clergyman, expresses his delight at the thriving cricket scene in Vatican City (population 798), where he works in the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The Vatican's team played their first match in 2011 against a nomadic side from the Netherlands known as Fellowship of Fairly Odd Places Cricket Club. The FFOPCC – who are described in that year's Wisden as "an assortment of Dutch geriatrics, the youngest aged 50" – thought it would be fun to challenge the Pope to pick his best XI and take them on in a match at Rome's Stadio dei Marni. When they arrived they were somewhat dismayed to find that The Vatican had recruited a squad of "athletic 20-something Indian priests". FFOPCC were duly thrashed.

The match was such a success that regular Twenty20 games are now being played between two Vatican universities – the Maria Mater Ecclesiae International Pontifical College and the Pontifical Urbaniana University – on a pitch near Rome's Ciampino airport and there are plans to start up to six more teams.

Better yet, the man behind it all, Father Theodore Mascarenhas, of the Pontifical Council for Culture, intends to start St Peter's Cricket Club and says he is going to challenge the Church of England to a match. The venue, of course, would be Lord's!!!

Extract from the Guardian “Spin” 15/10/13

Law 24.7 Doesn’t happen too often, but occasionally it does, particularly in u/age or womens’ games. A ball on delivery slips and stops anywhere on the oval short of the batter’s wicket. The law requires a call of NoBall/ Dead Ball: the batter is not allowed a free hit as used to be of the stationery ball.

A friend of this writer (and I saw this) playing for South Australia v England at Adelaide Oval many moons ago bowled left hand over the wicket and the ball, obviously much to John’s embarrassment, came to rest at the feet the square leg umpire. As was the case in those days, the fielders were not to retrieve the ball nor allowed to move from their position and the batter had his free hit that could have broken a picket: a golf shot off the tee!

Question for the older brigade amongst us: could the batter have played a lifted shot for 6?

Craig Thomas It is with pleasure that Sticky Wicket announces that our own Craig Thomas has been selected to represent South Australia and SACUSA as an umpire at the upcoming Under 19 National Championships. This selection made by Cricket Australia’s, Umpire High Performance Panel (UHPP) is independent of States ranking Craig currently in the top 8 newest prospects for National Panel Selection.

Criag’s selection is on the back of strong performances in the Premier League, Grade Cricket and most recently in Victoria umpiring in the Futures League.

Well done Craig.

Whilst on national duties… Sarah Thamm becomes SA’s first female umpire EVER to be selected to National Championships. Sarah will be going to NSW to umpire in the Under 15 Girls National Championships.

And the congratulations just keep coming.

Big congratulations to Lawrence Key on achieving his 400 Grade Match milestone.

An unbelievable achievement which will be acknowledged with an in depth expose in next months edition, complete with photos.

A Bustling Moment I was in the lift when a Dolly Parton type figure lady got in.

It was hard not to have a sneaky look at her roundness!

She said “would you press one?”.

So I did.

I don’t remember anything until waking in a hospital recovery ward.

How old can one be?

A scorer at a W T20 match that I umpired recently informed me that Marg Jude played an A Grade game for Southern District last year at age 72!!!!!!!!!. Marg was Captain Coach of the club’s Women’s C grade team a few years ago when it existed: she was 69 years old and the youngest in her team was 9!!!!

One wonders how many aging members of our Association may be picked to play for the last cricket club they represented at a similar age as Marg. Marg could be the envy of all of us in that she received a baggy green for her one Test match V England at Lords.

I was at an ATM yesterday when a little old lady asked if I could check her balance, so I pushed her over MCC (at Lord’s that is) President Former England and Middlesex captain Mike Gatting has begun his year as President of MCC (at Lord’s that is!).

Gatting assumes the role in a momentous year for both clubs, with

Middlesex celebrating

Home Town Decisions? (Thanks to Tim Hart for this article) More than being a perception, statistics across a variety of sports clearly support the fact that teams enjoy a distinct home ground advantage and home teams win more than they lose, regardless of the sport.

There are a number of factors that may contribute to this, with players reporting higher levels of self-confidence when playing at home, lower pre-match anxiety and the value of familiar routines and rituals.

Another factor could be the influence that large crowds, heavily supporting the home team, can have on an umpire or referee. We have all heard stories in the past of umpires being threatened, having their homes attacked, being burnt in effigy, and even being shot at after a contentious decision angered local fans and there are times when test matches were halted by riots in the crowd over decisions.

These situations have tended not to occur as frequently in Australia, and before the advent of neutral umpires many of us have probably felt that umpiring in some countries was more prone to favour the home team than be unbiased.

This caused frustration for visiting teams and those of us of a certain age can well remember Mike Gatting’s run in with umpire Shakoor Rana in Pakistan and difficulties Australian teams have faced in India and South Africa.

Much was made in Channel 9 broadcasts of Javed Miandad never being given out LBW in Pakistan. As a counter, the late Tony Grieg would mischievously suggest that Bill Lawry was never given out LBW in Australia. It would take a brave umpire even today to give Sachin Tendulkar out LBW in front of 100,000 screaming fans at Eden Gardens!

It should be noted that just as Australian and English teams of the past believed they were on the rough end of home town umpiring decisions on the subcontinent, so Indian teams (we remember Sunil Gavaskar wanting to take his partner of the field in protest), Pakistan teams and Sri Lankan teams (especially in the days of Ranatunga and the calling of Murali for throwing) have questioned the objectivity of Australian officials.

LBW decisions are often the most contentious, particularly before Hawk-Eye and modern technology and are often seen as the most subject to bias towards the home side. In 1981, a study by Samper and Mobeley analysed every umpiring decision given in every Test match since the inception of Test cricket in 1877 until 1980.

They drew five final conclusions: 1.

Visiting batsmen have been out LBW more frequently than have home batsmen, though the only countries where the home/away difference is statistically significant are India, Pakistan and South Africa

2.

Australian umpires are more reluctant to raise the finger in support of LBW appeals than are umpires in other countries, a fact which applies both to home and visiting batsmen

3.

In the West Indies, home batsmen have been more prone to LBW dismissals than home batsmen in other countries.

4.

In New Zealand, visiting batsmen have been less likely to be given out LBW than batsmen visiting other countries

5.

In India, visiting batsmen are more likely to be dismissed LBW in other countries.

These figures support two traditional stereotypes – that Indian umpires are trigger-happy with LBW decisions (I have always been amazed looking at the speed of dismissal of the last wicket in the tied test in Madras as an example, albeit a decision against an Indian batsman), and that Indian, Pakistani and South African umpires are biased in favour of their own teams. Other perceptions are not supported and in fact the opposite is true, especially in the West Indies where the home batsmen were in danger of being hastily shot out.

Clearly we now have neutral umpires and this is a definite benefit to the game. Whilst there are calls to get the “best” umpires in the “big” series, especially after the disasters in decision making and DRS the recent Ashes tour, removal of any suggestion of influence on an umpire because his country is playing is important. Imagine the outcry if Aleem Dar’s failure to give Stuart Broad out had been a decision made by an English umpire or the furore here in Australia if Dhoni was reprieved in such a manner by an Indian umpire in India, or the uproar in India if Clarke benefited here in Australia from a glaring mistake by an Australian umpire.

Umpires are human and make mistakes.(WOW: Ed) Bias is not necessarily deliberate or cheating but can be a reaction to pressure, crowd response and a range of factors. International cricket can give rise to strong emotions, including nationalism. It is far better to be seen to be neutral in officiating and to wear accusations of incompetence than to leave open suggestions of cheating or corruption.

Other things have changed with technology as well. Due to the influence of technology, Hawk-Eye and the DRS, which show many more balls would have hit the wicket than seem likely at first viewing, umpires in international cricket give more players out LBW on the front foot, especially off spinners. This filters down to all levels of cricket, which I’m not sure is altogether a good thing.

Hopefully, the focus in the upcoming Ashes will be more on the quality of the cricket and less on the shortcomings of the umpires and the inadequacies of the DRS. Early signs of more reviews and dropping Hot Spot technology are not promising. The spirit of the game and respecting the umpire’s decision, regardless, is one of the unique features of cricket which must not be compromised.

(Study quoted in Bob Woolmer’s Art and Science of Cricket, 2008, New Holland Publishers Ltd)

Crisis WG Grace once said “There is only one crisis in cricket and that’s the next ball”. Does that apply to umpiring!

Two Legs Note, particularly for new umpires, if a batter taking strike asks for “two legs” or “two” it means middle and leg, whereas “one leg” means leg stump.

Dead Ball Two recent incidents this season: A batter ducked a short quick delivery but the ball did not bounce as expected and hit him high on his chest. He immediately dropped his bat and fell to the pitch with hand on the hurting spot. Now, lesson for all, the umpire seeing the batter in immediate distress called dead ball as he collapsed to the pitch. Then there was an appeal as some fielders saw the ball roll to the stumps and dislodge a bail. A discussion between umpires and it was agreed that dead ball was called before the falling bail. “Not out” resulted in much questioning from the fielding team, pointing at the bail. Lesson: be quick to call dead ball if an injury to any player or umpire looks “serious”.

At another match, the ball was fielded and the fielder instead of the usual return to the “keeper” started to polish the ball as he faced the bowler. We all know that the ball is now deemed dead (Law 23.1(b) and Law 23.2. The batters met mid pitch, the fielder threw the ball to the keeper who removed the bails and many fielders appealed. “Not out “ was the umpire’s call, correctly! Much questioning of the umpires occurred: “ the ball was dead, he’s not out, get on with the game”.

Would you believe a letter was written (a real letter, not an email) seeking reason why the batter was not out!

And finally, here’s a situation for us all to ponder: I’m sure we can all name a captain we think likely to try this one!

A captain is batting and on 99. Aiming to bring up his century in style, he attempts to hit the ball out of the ground, but only manages to sky it high in the air. The batsman run 1, and with the ball still in the air, the captain tells the umpire at the bowler’s end that he is declaring (on 100 not out). A fielder then catches the ball. How do you manage this one?

Bob Eldridge Ed’s Note: I like that last one Bob. All, check Laws 12.3 and 14.1. It was quick and clever thinking by the batting captain however. Was it his first 100? I wonder if umpires got it right for the scorers, and I wonder if there were arguments!

NEXT MEETING IS NOT AT KENSINGTON CRICKET CLUB AND IS NOT ON A WEDNESDAY OUR DECEMBER MEETING ON THURSDAY 12 DECEMBER WILL BE AT BIG NEW THEBARTON COMMUNITY CENTRE AT CORNER OF SOUTH ROAD AND ASHWIN PARADE, TORRENSVILLE (OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD TO THE BRICKWORKS MARKET SITE).

THAT IS WHERE WE HAD OUR PRE-SEASON TRAINING. MEETING WILL START AT 7.00PM AND WILL BE OUR TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS MEETING AND WE ASK THAT MEMBERS BRING A PLATE OF FOOD FOR ALL TO SHARE AND ENJOY.