Making the Call - Round 3
Hi everyone,
I hope that you are enjoying your umpiring and are looking forward to umpiring on the weekend.
Some of our new umpires may be umpiring games by themselves for the first time this weekend. My advice is to prepare yourself for your game, get to the ground at least 30 minutes before the start of play and take it 1 ball at a time.
It takes time to become a great umpire and even the best umpires still have issues that they need to work on from time to time so don’t put too much pressure on yourself and just try to do your best.
When I started umpiring Premier cricket, someone told me that if I ever made it to First grade, my umpiring style would be made up of techniques and ideas that I learnt from other umpires that I umpired with along the way and I have certainly found this to be the case. As a community cricket umpire, you will most likely be umpiring by yourself each week and so I hope that these weekly messages give you ideas that you can use to improve your umpiring.
Here are some tips for you to think about for this week:
Umpiring tips
Warnings for full pitched or short pitched balls
If you need to issue a warning to a bowler for bowling dangerous full pitched balls above waist height or dangerous bouncers that pass above shoulder height, make sure you make a note in your notebook along the lines of:
“Ball 10.3 1st warning to Fred Smith – Full pitch above waist”
If you issue a warning to the bowler, make sure you inform the batter and the square leg umpire as well. By doing this, if there is a query about when the bowler received his first warning, you can show your notebook and point out that you informed the batter and the other umpire as well. If there are 2 umpires at the match and the bowler bowls infringes again when the other umpire is officiating, the other umpire will know that a first warning has already been given.
Know the Rules
In addition to the other types of no balls in the rules and Laws of Cricket, when an umpire calls a no ball that passes, or would have passed, above the batter’s waist, on the full, with the batter standing upright at the crease or after pitching, passes or would have passed above the batter’s shoulder with the batter standing upright at the crease, they should then warn the bowler that any further repetition in the innings will result in the bowler will be unable to bowl again in that innings. The over shall be completed by a different bowler, who shall not have bowled the previous over and shall not bowl the next over. For clarification, any part over bowled shall count as an over bowled for each bowler. A very slow bowler or spin bowler is exempt from these warnings and restrictions, unless the bowler bowls an obvious ‘quicker’ ball.
Found in 6.5. No Balls in both the Stage 2 Match Day Rules and Stage 3 Match Day Rules
Calling no-balls and wide balls
When you call and signal no-balls or wides, you should be calling out loud enough that the players can hear you. When I am watching umpires from the boundary line, I like to be able to hear the umpire’s voice because I know that if I can hear their voice from the boundary, then all of the players will be hearing the call as well.
Another advantage with using a strong voice, is that you appear confident in what you are doing which leaves a good impression with those playing and watching the game.
Playing conditions
I strongly recommend that you have a printed copy of the playing conditions for the game that you are umpiring and a copy of the general rules, (in particular 4.4 which deals with wet weather) in your umpiring bag. There might be some rain on the weekend, so please read these as part of your preparation.
Position at non striker’s end
I just want to go over a few basics about where you stand at the bowler’s end.
You need to be standing directly behind the stumps, and in particular, middle stump. I know some umpires who place a mark on the ground in line with the two middle stumps that they use as a guide to make sure they are in line with the middle stumps in order to assist with their LBW decisions and I have started doing it this season as well.
You need to be far enough back that you can judge the bowler’s front foot for no-balls. This can be tricky sometimes, as some bowlers may have a bowling action that makes it hard to see their front foot and you may need to move closer to the stumps or further back in order to put yourself in a position where you can observe the front foot.
You should also be trying to keep your head still so that once you have judged the front foot of the bowler, your eyes can then move to try to pick up the ball as soon as possible. If you are finding that you need to move your head after judging the bowler’s front foot, try moving back a step or two.
In community cricket, with the pace of the ball, you probably can get away with a slight movement, but a lot of good umpiring is about getting into good umpiring habits. Getting into a routine where your head doesn’t move will maximise your chances of making the right decision and set you up for success if you are promoted to higher grades in the future.
It may take a little bit of experimentation before you settle on where you should be standing. You may vary your stance according to the type of bowler. I tend to stand further back for pace bowlers and stand 1 or two steps closer to the stumps if there is a spin bowler bowling, but I know some umpires who like to be in the same spot for the whole game.
You need to work out what works best for you!
Good luck with your umpiring in Round 3!
Paul Henwood
MJCC Umpiring Coach