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[MD2812]

A story I always remember from last season.

Saturday cricket, both teams are supposed to provide an umpire (and most do).

Playing a game where the oppo didn't have one, I'm at square leg both ends, and there is a tight run out. The keeper is stood between myself and the stumps when he takes the ball, so I can't know when the bails are off. As it's tight I give not out, benefit to the batsman - I genuinely don't know if it's out.

They give me some grief, at end of the over I walked up to their keeper and explained why I made my decision, he was embarrassed and agreed with me. Whilst I've been chatting with him fine leg as ran all the way up to say "I could see that was out from fine leg mate, don't cheat".

Couldn't be arsed to explain my decision to someone who couldn't see jack from 50m away just said summet along the lines of "Should've brought an umpire then". He shut up and walked back to fine leg.

[hopwoodbear]

when i umpire i tend to be a not outer

i counted up all the lbw decisions we gave as a side one season and it was 3 times as many as we had got from the oppo, too many inexperienced lads sticking their fingers in the air when a batsmen might be out, you have to be sure.

its amazing the amount of people that will go out to umpire and not take into account the bowlers action, where the ball pitches, where it hits them, if its in line, the height, how far out the crease the batsmen is standing and even if it pitches outside of leg stump.

[richthekeeper]

I'm thinking about doing a bit of league umpiring this season while I recover from a broken arm. I've got my level 1 and have done loads of umpiring with my club but never as a neutral. I'm not sure where to start! Has anyone got an idiot's guide - what to wear, what you need to bring onto the field etc?!

[Calzehbhoy]

Give the league a call and ask. There may be certain things you need from the league in way of team cards/umpire cards.

[Biggie Smalls]

I'm thinking about doing a bit of league umpiring this season while I recover from a broken arm. I've got my level 1 and have done loads of umpiring with my club but never as a neutral. I'm not sure where to start! Has anyone got an idiot's guide - what to wear, what you need to bring onto the field etc?!

I used to be a qualified ump back in my teens/early 20's ( you cant imagine the grief i copped ) , umpired sundays in pub comps etc . Probably did about 120-150 matches all up . Anyway ,re what to wear , check with the comp re black pants/white shirt/tie ?etc . Also , you're not playing , so you can use rubber spikes if you prefer ( even on turf) .... they are more comfy when standing in essentially the same spot all day.  I  always would have a spike key and a couple spare spikes ( creates a good impression ) , a belt clip ( for hats etc , looks real pro ) ,sunscreen , a small towel , a counter ( of course ) ,a copy of the laws of cricket , a copy of any local association/league rules etc ,sunglasses,    and the most crucial part... a note pad and pencil . This was to keep my own tally of overs per bowler , but it  also allowed me to communicate to the bowler by first name ( written in the note pad in case i forgot ) . Bowlers tend to behave a little better when you're using their names . Also , if anyone , particularly a bowler , starts giving you grief / carrying on etc , you just get out the note pad and pencil . If it's serious you actually write down what's occured . If it's not so serious but you'd prefer the behaviour stops , then you just pretend you're writing something down . It's amazing how many people improve their behaviour when they think it is being documented .

[GoodLeave]

It's amazing how much Sunday's fixture against Village Priests 3rd XI matters to some people.

I quite enjoy a bit of umpiring, but have seen some daft behaviour from both my own and opposition teams (Once told by my captain as I walked out to square leg to keep my finger down, then got scalded when I came back in for giving a run out when our bat was 2 yards short, sad day that.)

Been on the other side too, given out lbw to balls pitching outside leg etc, I feel gutted on the walk back to the pavillion. Then I remind myself that I'm playing the game I love, in one of the safest countries in the world, whilst others are getting shelled in their own homes by oppressive governments.

Could be worse. Let it go.

[richthekeeper]

three games into my umpiring adventure, i thought i'd do a bit of a field report. this post does contain a question at the bottom rather than just being a self indulgent monologue, so please do read on!

Context
I'm 31, been playing since I was a kid, usually a keeper/bat at a reasonable standard in South Wales. I moved to London over the winter, and while I was looking for a club to play for I broke my arm playing football. My research identified a club near where I live which was looking for umpires, and whose social media presence suggested they would be a good bunch of blokes. I'm a Level 1 qualified umpire and have done a lot of informal standing as we often have to umpire ourselves in the leagues I've played in, so I reached out and offered my services. Anything to get out of the house and get the missus used to the idea of me being out all day on a Saturday!

Matches
On the way to Putney CC for the first game of the season, I kitted myself out with a small notebook, pen and some counters, so I was ready for anything. I'd read up on league rules and picked up some useful forum tips. I refreshed my memory of my Level 1 course around such things as positioning.

My first observation is that the standard is a little lower than I'm used to, and so there's less of an edge in terms of the competitiveness of the teams. Everyone wants to win but there's no d*ckhead behaviour which is really quite refreshing compared to the "win at all costs" mentality of Premier League cricket. Each team provides an umpire who is not part of the playing XI, and there's been some genuine camaraderie between the umpires so far. I've found myself integrating nicely into the Putney club, getting to know peoples' names and styles of play, but still being able to umpire as neutrally as possible.

In addition, because I'm clearly still young enough and in reasonable shape, everyone has been asking me about myself. Opposition teams always enquire about whether I play at all, or hear that I'm a currently injured player and want to chat about it. I find this really interesting and quite rewarding.

Performance
In the three games I've stood in so far, Putney have won 1 and lost 2. I have to say, I don't think any of the decisions I've either made or not made have had a material impact on the results. There haven't been too many really difficult decisions, and the main challenge of umpiring is having the concentration span to still be alert after 90 overs of standing still. Being an opening bat helps in this regard.

On a couple of occasions, I've turned down appeals for lbw or caught behind and been engaged in debate about them later. More so about the caught behind actually, but I'm still convinced he didn't hit it. These have always been from my "own" team and never has any opposition player questioned one of my decisions. My team have been happy to accept my decision making but do want to understand whether I've seen or heard the same thing as them, and what my interpretation is.

Thoughts on umpiring
Here's the thing, and the main reason for me writing this post. Sorry if anyone is bored. I've really, genuinely enjoyed umpiring over the last few weeks, and I believe that I'm reasonably good at it. However, I'm now over my injury and there have been a few enquiries about whether I'd like to play. I'm torn. I still have a lot to offer as a player, but this is a new club so they have no reliance on me, and obviously I'm never going to play at a really good standard again. I've started to consider that perhaps I could progress to that level if I concentrated on building my experience and education as an umpire.

What do people think? Obviously it's entirely my decision to make but I'd love to hear your opinions - particularly @Biggie Smalls as you obviously gave up umpiring at some point?

[alexhilly1492]

the big question to ask yourself is will you enjoy playing for this new club? if the answer si yes its a no brainer for me as the worst can happen is you umpire some games and play other, as you seem to be enjoying the umpiring it seems a win win for me, at the amateur level enjoyment is all that truly matters

[Seniorplayer]

Not sure where I should have posted this but is relevant to my match.

As I am sure many of the other forum members do, the batting team are required to umpire their innings (unless someone turns up with an umpire, unlikely!)

I am one of those strange individuals who actually enjoys umpiring, for me it is much more entertaining than sitting and watching or, heaven forbid, scoring!

However, there comes a time when this enjoyment is stubbed out by your opponents.

This weekend, during their batting innings, I was informed by their captain that they "liked an appeal".

I am often umpiring for the first 10 overs of the game, during which the "appealing began"

One over, 2 balls go down the leg side, the next 4 balls hit pad, all going across the bowler and IMHO going down the leg side, particularly as the batsman was about a foot outside the crease.

Next over, the same again happens and again still IMHO going down leg, until the bowler got one to shoot off the deck hitting the batsman on the ankle, however, still IMHO it would have maybe clipped leg stump.

I was then subject to a tirade of abuse from the bowler who not only appealed twice but continued to mutter past me. I informed him of my decision and said that nobody is perfect.

At the end of the following over I had a quiet word with the captain informing him that I would not stand out here and be abused and sworn at. He then spoke to the bowler in question and ended if with "that is enough" to which the bowler aimed in my direction "You should be fair though".

At no point did I perceive myself as being unfair.

I am wondering what I can do when presented with this situation.

As an umpire are you allowed to issue warnings to bowlers?

What other actions can you take?

Any feedback would be great. Have been mulling over this quite a lot since Saturday

Warn the bowler and the Captain  anymore of it and  you will report him to the league  for umpire abuse.warn the Captain that you will report him to the league for failing to control players. Most leagues take this sort of thing seriously  these days and will take action agaiInst the player and Captain.

[Batbuddy99]

Warn the bowler and the Captain  anymore of it and  you will report him to the league  for umpire abuse.warn the Captain that you will report him to the league for failing to control players. Most leagues take this sort of thing seriously  these days and will take action agaiInst the player and Captain.

Don't think he will tbh considering that was June 2015 

[GoodLeave]

You may miss playing sometimes, but as someone willing to umpire, you'll be as valuable as the groundsman. Clubs need more people like yourself.

Plus, You'll never have to buy a tea again!

[Biggie Smalls]

@richthekeeper , good to hear things have gone ok so far .
I started umpiring while still a teen and kept doing it through my early 20s, mainly for the extra pocket money whilst at uni . I really enjoyed umpiring , it's satisfying in a hard-to-describe kind of way .
I never had to pick between playing and umpiring since i played saturdays and umped on sundays . I gave up umpiring mostly due to my bad back ( it's far easier to play cricket , and people don't understand just how hard it is to stand , essentially in the same spot , for so many hours ) . I have had a few 'what if' thoughts over the years re what coulda-shoulda-woulda happened if i kept umpiring.
I see your conundrum and see either option valid and worthwhile . I won't directly give an opinion/ state what you should do etc,  but rather , I'll just say how it was for me .
I played a bit of 1st grade , mainly twos . Did my knee and got back problems when i was 19-20 . Went down to 3-4th grades while i tought myself to become a spinner and opening bat ( i was a pace bowler until then). After a couple years i hadn't really progressed much with my cricket/ trying to get up the grades . Eventually i got really depressed about playing at a lower standard than i had always been aiming for . I got so upset about it that I quit cricket for 10 years . I got back into cricket , just park cricket for a year or two then had another crack at trying to play grade etc . I seemed to be hovering at the same standards as before . I quit after a few years . I had 4 seasons off ... until the beginning of last season . I was now almost 38yo and used the off season to throw everything at my preseason training , like i never had before . I made 2nd grade at the start of the season . After about 4 games I went up to 1st grade and stayed there for the remainder of the season .
My body is shot, ive got so many injuries - refer to the '2017 hurties' thread to read about my total 'crockness' . I'm in worse physical condition than ever , but my fitness is good because i worked hard . My cricketing form is good because i work at it all the time . Just in the last two weeks my batting at the bowling machines has given me so much joy because i honestly feel im batting so much better than i ever had ( I'll be 39 in six months) .
Basically , im  just questioning how certain you can be re that your best cricket is 100% behind you .
The last thing I'll  do is ask this - do you ever wish you were playing when you are umpiring ? And conversely,  do you ever wish you were umpiring when you are playing ?
Cheers mate , and good luck either way .

[hopwoodbear]

enjoy your umpiring when you retire from playing

IMO as long as you enjoy it then whenever you get the chance to play then you should play

[Butterfingerz]

I took up umpiring 3 years ago, completely by accident really. Having taken the L1 course to help with the umpiring I was doing for the clubs junior section and doing quite well in the exam, I'd been approached by two leagues to stand. At the time I was only 40 and still enjoying playing so it wasn't really considered.

A few games into the season and due to a back injury a few years before I was finding it harder to recover after a days play and not performing at a level I personally was happy with. I'd always said once I decided that's enough there would be no going back and so I took a couple of weeks before making the decision. I'd already been selected for the weekend so knew it was going to be my last game. A reasonable score and a few overs and wickets under my belt didnt change my mind and after getting showered and changed I spoke to the captain briefly and told him of my decision.

What next then....shopping with the wife, gardening or decorating all weekend were not options as that's what the winter is for and I'd be divorced if I ended up in the pub all day.

Again the call came from the league once they'd heard I'd hung up my boots, 'Go on then I'll give it a go!'

Fortunately the league operate a mentoring system where all new umpires stand for several matches with experienced umpires who are willing to pass on knowledge, wisdom and advise. These matches are usually in the lower divisions and so the game is relatively slow and you've got time to learn and develop the craft. Over time we are assessed and moved up the divisions as appropriate.

After 26 years of playing I thought it was going to be easy...how wrong I was! There is so much to learn and indeed now into my 4th season and having attained my level 2 qualification, standing in 3 cup finals and in my second season on the ECB Yorkshire Premier Leagues Umpiring panel I'm still learning every game.

You're a long time retired from playing and umpiring is not a replacement but its not far off and if done correctly can allow you to participate at levels you couldn't have achieved as a player

[Manormanic]

Unless you are hoping to get to the professional levels of umpiring, I'd say give playing a few more years yet, at least find out whether you still have the urge.  You can get to a decent level of panel umpiring in 4-8 years quite easily (I managed to get some Yorkshire League games in my only season of umpiring back in the 90s)