In just about every game there are incidents in which players and or umpires or both can have differing views on exactly what happened. Here are two incidents from one match played last season.
The game was a wonderful 50 over day nighter played with the experimental yellow / greenish ball that is far and away the best colour I have umpired in day night cricket.
The local team were the best senior schoolboys team in the state consisting of 16 and 17 year olds and they were playing a touring South African team of 17 and 18 year olds. The local team is always a joy to umpire, well coached and drilled and with great manners.
At the end of the SA innings number 11 played his second ball straight to cover and was caught but he ran through for the single and the other batsman took guard. Some of the local team had started to walk off. I stood there silent and someone finally said 'That's out isn't it?"
I replied "Is that and appeal?" A shout of How's That rang out and up went the finger. The batsman trudged off and as I left the field i heard him say "The umpire was confused". We no the umpire was correct, the batsman was obvioulsy not a walker and everyone must remmeber an appeal has to be made before the umpire can give someone out. The rather cheeky batsman told me he had got away with it a couple of times in the past. lol.
In the same match the local team were shocked by the ferocity of the open bowlers. that age gap of one or two years at this time of life is very marked in speed of bowlers very often. One of the best Under 16 players I have ever seen (and that includes the local U16 Australian player) came in to bat and very early on got an absolute very fast ball he misjudged. His bat never came in front of his pads and he was drawing it away playing on the back foot with both pads close together behind the crease. The ball smashed into the front pad, nice little off cutter, and then kissed the back of his bat and was taken at first slip, big appeal, OUT!
After the match the player suggested he had not hit the ball Well I said the answer was simple, what you were doing wasn't exactly playing a shot. he agreed with that. Then the ball pitched outside off stump, hit you maybe half a centimetre outside off stump but on the cut would have absolutely hit off stump half way up, out LBW not playing a shot. Hmmm, after going through the shot he agreed.
So the umpire was not as confused at all, it just appeared that way to a few players.
The local young right handed went through a great learning curve playing part of the year at first division level in the local competition. He made a duck in a one dayer, bowled by an ex state left arm quick by the third ball he faced. The left armer pushed two deliveries across himm that just made it inside the wide line, the thrid delivery was a very fast in swinging yorker that took middle stump. He was not yet old enough or experienced enough to have faced a class bowler who could do that at will. Probably learnt more from those three balls than from what he faced the rest of the season.
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Topic: The Umpire Was Confused. Part 1 (Read 2162 times)