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[art]

One of the great things that modern umpires must learn is man management. I am quite unsure why this is so simply because the roles of the captains and the umpire are now clearly defined and apart from the occasional advice to a bowler who is unravelling after a couple appeals have been turned down and a few catches are dropped that cricket is a tough game but let's get on with it the rest becomes a mystery to me.

It would seem now days that cricketers can lose their concentration and cool and continue to moan and snipe away but once an umpire shows a little touch of rancour it would appear that the world is collapsing because many people somehow believe that this is unbecoming. Somehow an umpire must remain above being human.

So what we do know is that for many people the more 'pressure' they are placed under the more liable they are to error. The more liable they are to error the more likely they are to be criticised. Now isn't that what banter and sledging is all about? Unsettling people, putting them under pressure, hoping they will make a mistake? Of course it is. Now where in the Laws or rules or common sense does it say that you put pressure on an umpire other than by appealing for something that has a chance of being given out? Well there is nothing in the rules, laws or etiquette.

In cricketing heirachy the ICC sets the tone that flows through the country controlling body down through the associations and to club level. At club level they should set the tone for the captains to carry through. Now before I finish this article I know what some folks are thinking. You are thinking if we can't or shouldn't do this this somehow takes away some advantage we can achieve. Nothing could be further than the truth. You can play tough you can play hard and you can appeal for what has a chance of being out but you accept the decsion and move on. It's runs on the board or wickets in the book that count.

So the game is not played against the umpire it is played against the opposition. The umpire is an impartial person in the process. The process is in the hands of the players.

Comments please.

[Howzat]

Umpires defiantly need good man management and infact good people skills!

[art]

Please explain why leo given what I have posted about the role of clubs and captains.

[stevie]

I agree with you 100% Art on the  "You can play tough you can play hard and you can appeal for what has a chance of being out but you accept the decsion and move on. It's runs on the board or wickets in the book that count."
Even though sometimes it does get a bit annoying when the umpire says not out and the batsmen then turns around to me and said i hit that.

[art]

Well keeper we get back to my previous discussion about sledging an umpire by saying he was out. It might be sledging behind the umpire's back but it is still sledging.

I have seen that happen a number of times when the batsman has actually missed the ball and missed it by a long way. The fielding team gets the idea that the umpire is incompetent and so things can escalate.

Here is a little story that happened to me a few seasons ago.

It was early on in a match and a rather high profile player had opened. He had played and missed at the first ball of the third over and there was a half hearted appeal. I said not out. The batsman then turned around to the keeper and crowed how he had smashed it. Hmmm thought I not bad for a miss by about 2 inches. The keeper niggled a little and then the batsman delighted every one by saying how honest he was and would always say if he got a nick or not when there was an appeal. The keeper in frustration appealed again and I lifted the finger. The batsman stood there shocked and I reminded him how long an appeal actually lasts.

After all I was only a foolish umpire who missed the original nick and the brilliant honest batsman had merely corrected my silly error. The batsman now doesn't do that and we correspond regularly.

Oh and frankly the idea that every batsman knows when he has got a nick is one of those old chestnuts circulated by some players. One good thing that snicko and hotspot showed early on was that some top players had no idea if they got a nick or not when there was a flurry of pads and hitting the wicket and ball.

geex umpire that must have been close to LB. Well you got an edge and we'll look at it after the match. So looking at it after the natch the batsman lets out a sigh, I didn't feel a thing.