Sticky Wicket October 2012

October 2012

Welcome to the October issue of Sticky Wicket

Universal Language

For most of us October brings the official start of the cricket season. For those who were enthusiastic enough to partake in pre-season training we should be well prepared and hit the ground running so to speak. For those who have been stuck on the couch all winter or standing on the Hill at the Parade savouring a rare season of form. Our first cricket match will be a bit of a shock to the system.

Many years ago, SACA umpires Ray Schmidt and David Szkup were umpiring at Flinders Uni at an Australian Universities Carnival. The North Sydney University team consisted entirely of Indian and Sri Lankan players. In the field the entire team spoke in their own languages and there was no audible English spoken: a bit weird! A throw at the bowler’s end wicket in an attempted run-out was unsuccessful and the ball evaded a backing up fielder and a boundary four overthrow runs were added to the striker’s single (they crossed) resulted.

Our plan to get through our first weekend of cricket.

Wednesday—Make sure we know where we are on the weekend, what we are doing and who with.

Thursday—Ensure we have all our clothing and equipment we need. Make use of late night shopping and pick up any final stocks. Saturday is a bit late to find we cant fit into our black pants!

Friday—Have a final read of our by-laws for the weekend.

Ring our partner to make sure he/she is also ready to go.

Make our way to bed a bit earlier than we used to.

Saturday—Start the day with a light but filling breakfast. Our bodies will need all the energy it can get.

Get to the ground a bit earlier. If it is the first game at the ground also then it may not be quite up to scratch to start.

Have a good walk around, you can check the ground but also warm up those muscles you haven’t used in a while.

The umpires heard from the throwing fielder a very loud S**T. Certainly universal language in use there!

SACUSA Office Bearers President: Ted Branson Vice President: Craig Thomas Treasurer:

Lynton Donisthorpe

Secretary:

Michial Farrow

Committee members: Max Bartlett ,John Ketley,Jeff King and Tony Trist Auditors:

Bob Woods and Simon Fry

Get out there and enjoy your umpiring

facebook.com/sacricketumpiresandscorers

Contacts Secretary - Michial Farrow 0435 872 215 secacusa@hotmail.com Sticky Wicket - Tim Pellew 0414 58 58 42 pellew@internode.on.net

Who is the Umpire—Video Profiles

Danger Zone

Early last month a few of our members were involved in yet another video shoot. This time doing interviews for online umpire profiles which will be featured on the Cricket Australia Website along side CA’s National Panel umpires.

Ron Parson’s making his 3rd or 4th appearance on umpire TV demanded double his usual rate of $0 per hour. After some negotiation producers caved in to his demands and his smiling face will again grace our screens.

Law 42.11 is about “the protected area” of the pitch.

Craig Thomas makes an appearance (ask him about the “I’m Hooked “ Rap) along with Hasib Murtaza, a member of our new development squad.

It is our duty as umpires to ensure that the requirements of Laws 42.12, 13 and 14 are adhered to, and in matches played on hard pitches, although there may not be damage occurring by encroachment into the “danger zone”, players (often juniors) should be educated to the fact that there is such an area that is not to be encroached upon, generally.

If we as umpires are not strict about warning players, (more than often bowlers encroaching into the zone), what is our answer to, say, a batter who on seeing obvious footmarks in the danger zone, asks an umpire what is he/she doing about the bowler’s footmarks?

We would feel foolish if we were to say, “ I did not notice the encroachment!” or whatever response if such damage is obvious!

Obstruction????

In two separate incidents in pre-season trial matches recently, the following occurred: Incident 1: Striker played a dead bat shot and the ball dropped in close to and in front of him. They set off quickly to “steal” a cheeky run.

The pace bowler could see a possible run out at the bowlers end as the striker was naturally slower off the mark than the backing up batter; the bowler was quick to gather the ball, turned and threw at the bowling end wicket. The striker obviously knowing he may be in a bit of trouble, ran straight down the middle of the pitch at the wicket, thus hopefully “protecting” it from being hit from the bowlers throw.

The ball hit the running striker out of his ground!

There was an appeal!

What would be your decision?

Incident 2: Similar scenario, only this time the ball was hit to silly mid on to the edge of the pitch. A run was attempted. A close-in fielder was quick to field the ball and threw at the bowler’s end wicket. The striker was running down the side of the pitch, (not in the danger zone) and at the last instance as he grounded his bat towards the popping crease, he veered to his left obviously hoping he had put himself between the fielder’s throw and the wicket.

The throw hit the running striker as he grounded his bat just short of the popping crease.

There was an appeal! The fielder claimed the running striker changed his direction.

What would be your decision?

Hawk-Eye The system was first used during a Test match between Pakistan and England at Lord's Cricket Ground, on 21 April 2001, in the TV coverage by Channel 4. Since then it has been an indispensable tool for cricket commentators around the world. It is used primarily by the majority of television networks to track the trajectory of balls in flight, mostly for analyzing leg before wicket decisions. In this case, Hawk-Eye is able to project the likely path of the ball forward, through the batsman's legs, to see if it would have hit the wicket. Currently this information is not used by the umpires to adjudicate on LBW decisions - it is only available to television viewers, although in the future it may be adopted by the third umpire. Currently the central umpire only get to see it once - and they have to make their minds up instantly.

The ball by ball tracking by the Hawk-Eye system allows the broadcasters to showcase many other features of the game, such as comparing the bowlers' speeds, spin, swing, line and length.

Although Hawkeye is very accurate in measuring the actual path of a ball, when it comes to predicting the future path of the ball, such as in LBW decisions, it is not as clear. If the ball is heading to the pitch, there's no way Hawk-eye can tell if a delivery is going to skid a bit more than normal or hit a crack, bit of grass, or worn patch of the pitch. The predicted path of the ball is based on the average and expected pathway.

Setting the right example Rumour has it that SACA’s umpiring manager has taken up the Goodlife offer and joined Goodlife Health Clubs.

After getting sick of the harassment by Kim Perrin about being (slightly) overweight and always eating, Neil is putting his money where his mouth is (literally) So if he seems more tired and grumpy than usual it’s because he has been working out!

What is this Development Squad anyway.

At the end of the 2011-12 season SACA did some work looking at the average ages of our panels and what that may mean for the future.

There were some interesting if not alarming results.

Average age of A Grade umpire's was 52 Average age of B Grade umpire’s was 54 Whilst many of you are probably at or above this age and probably think “that isn’t too old” Think of the following.

It will take usually around 5 years (minimum) for the best umpire to get to A Grade level from new.

Once there another 5 years before they are any good and accepted by the players and teams. Probably another 5 years after that they would be considered very experienced and would rival our current very experienced but declining A grade umpires. So if we want our Very Experienced A Grade umpires to be aged 50 or lower we need to think at least 15 years into the future. Our new development squad is therefore aimed at identifying and preparing umpires who have the potential to get to A Grade level in the next 5 years, will be a good A Grade Umpire in 10 years and be a veteran A grade umpire in 15 years.

Out of interest, the average age of our Development Squad is…. 35.

Availabilities Incredible to think but our availabilities for NOVEMBER are due to be done

by Friday next week. (19th of October) These will include our first carnival games.

It is important you fill out your availabilities carefully and accurately.

Use the supplied program books to work out what games are on what days and only make yourself available for the days you are sure of.

In My Cricket only use AVAILABLE and NOT AVAILABLE. DO NO USE CONDITIONAL AND MAKE SURE YOU COVER EVERY DATE IN THE MONTH. Umpire Registration Benefits



Umpire Member Benefits Card



Cricket Australia Accreditation Renewals



JLT Cricket Insurance Premium Paid



Discount on Cricket Australia Accreditation Courses



Access to training materials and seminars



Season Ticket to all Ryobi Cup matches at Adelaide Oval



Access to Cricket SA corporate health plan and associated discounts from BUPA



Discount on Internet from Internode



10% Discount on bicycle accessories from all Standish Cycles Stores



10% Corporate Discount on Membership to Goodlife Health Clubs



3 Day pass to Goodlife Health Clubs

From Bob Eldridge Waking up in the early hours one morning with a sore throat, one of our elderly umpires who suffers from calvites, (no names, but don’t worry Martin, your secret is safe with me!), not wanting to awaken his slumbering spouse, rummaged in his bedside drawer without turning on the light, to find his throat lozenges. When he awoke next morning, he realised he must have taken Viagra by mistake . . . because he had a stiff neck!

I don’t think it was the same elderly umpire who recently went into the local pharmacy to buy some Viagra. When asked the strength he required, he replied, ‘Just enough to stop me peeing on my slippers!”

Making Sense of SAUSA Membership ….HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVE TO PAY? (Explaining Lynton’s email) As an umpire or scorer, one of the following should be applicable to you, find the applicable clause (a. to g. below) and pay SACUSA the amount that is applicable.

I will be umpiring in the SACA grade competition - $110 (If you are a Grade Umpire over 16 years of age this is for you) I will be umpiring in an Affiliated Association and wish to join SACUSA as a Full Member - $110.

(If you are not a Grade umpire but want to be a part of and involved in all SACUSA functions then pick this option) I will be umpiring in an Affiliated Association and wish to join SACUSA as an Associate Member - $70.

(If you are not a Grade umpire but want to be a member of SACUSA and do not expect to attend many social functions then pick this one) I will be umpiring in an Affiliate Association and don’t wish to join SACUSA – NOTHING ($30 directly to Umpiring Manager).

(If you are an umpire but do not want to be a SACUSA member then simply contact the SACA and pay your $30 registration fee) I will be scoring in the SACA grade competition and wish to join SACUSA - $80.

I will be scoring in an Affiliated Association and wish to join SACUSA as a Full Member - $80.

(If you are a scorer, anywhere and want to be a full member of SACUSA this option is for you) I will be scoring in an Affiliated Association and wish to join SACUSA as an Associate Member - $40.

(If you are a scorer and want to be a member of SACUSA but do not expect to attend many social functions then pick this one)

What about this $30 registration fee to the SACA. (If you are an umpire and become a SACUSA member with either the $110 option or the $70 option this includes the SACA registration fee. Scorers and non-active members do not have to pay the SACA fee) This incorporation of the SACA fee into your association fees is being done by most associations ie: Adelaide Turf, Para Districts etc. So there should be only a small number of umpries who would need to pay SACA directly.

PAYMENT OPTIONS This year the options you have to pay your SACUSA membership fees are: Electronic Funds Transfer. From your bank to theirs Cheque or cash to the Treasurer. The old fashioned way Credit Card, using the MyCricket site or to the Treasurer. Log into My Cricket and follow the on screen steps NOTE : Payment methods 1 or 2 (EFT or cheque/cash) are preferred and appreciated by SACUSA. INSTRUCTIONS FOR ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER Login to your account (via your financial institution’s website).

Request a transaction from your account to the SACUSA account: BSB : 035-044 Account # : 81-0195 IMPORTANT : Include a payment reference (in both places) : “Mem Fee – your name”.

Optional : drop me an email telling me you have made a payment (in case you forget the important name reference and we can’t identify your payment) at lyncar@iprimus.com.au or Lynton.donisthorpe@sawater.com.au.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MYCRICKET CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS Log into MyCricket using your login (as you would for appointments & availability).

Select the link “SELECT” adjacent to “South Australian Cricket Umpires & Scorers Association” from the table.

Select the link “SACUSA Membership Form”.

Select the correct amount (see “how much do you have to pay” above) using the radio button.

Complete the transaction by following the prompts.

NOTES on Fees & MyCricket payments: These payments are not applicable to Adelaide Turf Umpire or Scorers.

MyCricket is a secure credit card site.

If you don’t have a MyCricket login, you will need to use payment option 1 or 2.