Umpires helping make Cricket Australia’s favourite Sport The Next Step Š Craig Thomas 2012
“Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself.” Marylebone Cricket Club The Laws of Cricket (2000 Code 4th Edition, 2010) Official Cricket Australia
“No matter what the calibre of the players, a game badly umpired can be a bad game.” George Hele - ‘Bodyline’ Umpire “White-Coated Knights of Cricket”, The Mail 6 Mar 1937
“The umpire is the law of cricket personified, image of the noble constitution of the best of games. He can make or mar the match for us. A bad umpire means bad-tempered cricketers, and therefore, bad play. Yet how little notice we take of the umpire. It is only when he has committed a blunder that we realise he is there.” Sir John ‘Neville’ Cardus English cricket writer (1888 1975) Mercury
as quoted by “Willow”, Australian cricket journalist in The 15 Nov 1935
As a South Australian grade cricket umpire and grass roots local club junior coach, who gratefully received umpiring appointments to two Cricket Australia competitions - the Under 17 National Championships and the Imparja Cup - during the 2011/12 season, I decided to allocate a reasonable amount of time to researching the climate of the ‘local club’ environment across Australia. This was in response to a view that was made visible to me by my 16-year-old son when he commented on the standard of umpiring in junior competition. After experiencing the privilege of undertaking a CA personal development course run by Simon Taufel and after applying for the position of CA Participation Growth Leader (making me aware of CA’s vision to “Make Cricket Australia’s Favourite Sport”) I theorised that inferior umpiring at grass roots level is contributing to dissatisfaction with the sport and threatening participation and retention rates. I want to do what I can to advance CA’s vision. Local Club Level Initially, I approached the President of my local association in the Adelaide Hills for his thoughts on the matter. He identified: * * *
Remuneration Player behavior and respect (or lack of) for the umpires Having to do both ends and not having a partner for support
as things that potentially might be impediments to attracting new umpires.1 It should be remembered here that cricket is a game that was designed to have two umpires on the field at any one time. By not meeting that criteria it is challenging for an umpire to maintain control of play and makes him or her more susceptible to actions of disrespect as vulnerability to player dissent is increased when an umpire has no on-field support. I followed this contact with discussion with the Umpiring Director from the same Association. I discovered that, with upwards of twenty games to officiate at each week, there were only four umpires 1 Email received by author on 9 Jan 2012
available for rostering - less when people were ill or on holidays - and that this was leading to disrespect from the players towards the few umpires that were available. He did not feel that umpire payments were handled effectively, the situation being that umpires were paid in cash by the two competing clubs at the end of the day’s play. This sometimes resulted in umpires feeling degraded as they were required to personally ask for payment and, if the players weren’t completely happy with the standard of umpiring they were not adverse to asking the umpire to wait. 2 I personally have been in a situation when I was umpiring for this association where I was paid in loose change after players searched in their cars after the match to raise the money for payment. This has the effect of making an umpire feel completely devalued. It is not surprising that a player, when he finds his playing days to be finished, is not very enthusiastic in entertaining the idea of becoming an umpire. He has seen how umpires are treated, and has perhaps treated an umpire badly himself, and does not see the occupation as attractive. I am not suggesting that Cricket Australia is in any way responsible for the lowly perception some grass roots players have of umpires. But I believe CA can be a leader in showing people what is acceptable behavior in relation to appreciation of umpires. In turn, this would, I feel, improve cricket’s attractiveness across the board. Additionally, the Umpire Director referred to did not feel he had the support of the Association in regard to reportable offences. The tribunal is run by volunteers - individuals who have many responsibilities in addition to cricket - and who do not want to allocate time to a hearing if not absolutely essential. In the last season this gentleman was making sure he took complete responsibility for anticipated “problem” games between rivals, in order that he could officiate and avoid possible incidents that may occur if less confident umpires were allocated these games. A situation such as this can only be sustained for a certain length of time before the individual will become burnt out. A far better option is for all umpires to have confidence in their abilities and spread the responsibility amongst all of them. To do this, individuals must first be attracted to the position and then, once on board, they must be provided with access to sufficient and high quality education so that they do feel confident 2 Telephone conversation between author and Hills Cricket Association Umpiring Director Feb 2012
and must have dependable support that is available at all times. Without that, the perception will remain the same. At present, the Umpiring Director is in the process of sending the Preamble to the Laws of Cricket to the clubs involved in the Association in an attempt to gather some feedback about their opinions of respect for the umpires. It is not known at this stage what the outcome of this exercise is. For the past few years I have been requested to umpire the grand final of ‘The Courier Cup’ - an inter-association competition played between the Hills, Torrens Valley and Alexandrina & Eastern Hills Cricket Associations. It is overseen by local newspaper sports journalist, Jeff Pistola, from The Courier. Jeff has been involved in sport in the hills for over thirty years. I spoke with Jeff regarding his feel for the shape of cricket in the area and he had this to say3: *
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In his opinion, no team wants to umpire itself due to the perception that umpiring a team that the umpire is also playing for is far from impartial He felt that the Association should be administering umpire payments by absorbing costs in club fees in order to avoid umpire discomfort in chasing money - this reinforces the view that it is unprofessional for payments to be pursued by umpires on the day of play and that it can be intimidating for the umpire to do so He has witnessed an A Grade umpire in the Hills Association be intimidated by players into making a questionable decision - made possible by the fact that the elderly umpire was not confident in his decision-making or in accessing support from the Association
After umpiring the abovementioned grand final, I spoke to players from both teams - Meadows and Nairne - about their views on the state of umpiring in their competition.4 Their opinions differed: *
These players felt it was asking too much of the Association to take responsibility for paying umpires. They also felt that as clubs
3 Conversation between author and Jeff Pistola (sports journalist), 29 Jan 2012 4 Conversation between author and players from Courier Cup Grand Final, 29 Jan 2012
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are already struggling to meet Association fee payments at the beginning of the season, before they have much income from subscriptions or bar takings, the clubs would find it very difficult to meet increased fees to cover umpire payments Both teams believed that there should be a requirement to pay umpires before the game commences, in order to avoid an uncomfortable situation after the day’s play and incidents which may have arisen One gentleman knew that his Association could fill A Grade umpiring vacancies as long as no-one took a week off (their Association umpiring group is staffed with retired men, who will need to be replaced over time) One player felt that his team, while acting professionally, was jeered at by other teams, who were competing just to have fun (which is great, but it does not help improve the standard of the game).
This discussion highlighted two important points; firstly, the view that it is too much work for the Association to administer umpire payments may have more to do with clubs’ desire not to pay more fees at the beginning of the season (which doesn’t address the issue of lack of attraction to the role of umpiring) than with concern for the Association‘s workload, and secondly, that many clubs at grass roots level perceive their competition as sophisticated backyard cricket not requiring any respect for umpires. The problem with that view is that, sustained over time, it can infiltrate opinion right up the cricketing ladder until it is woven into the fabric of first class competition and no-one will volunteer for the role - paid or otherwise - because of a complete lack of respect for it. Ultimately, that will change the game into something unrecognizable from what it is now. A few days before the grand final umpiring, previously mentioned, I was fortunate enough to be at Adelaide Oval for the 4 th Test for the match between Australia and India. I caught up with a few mates while I was there, men I have played club cricket with and I thought I would garner their views.5 They are, as follows: *
Players will not respect umpires unless they are competent and
5 Conversation between the author and grass roots current club cricket players, 24 Jan 2012
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confident Players don’t want to umpire themselves if there are competent and confident umpires available Players do want to umpire themselves if there are only incompetent umpires available - this, in their view has the advantage of not being called “out” in a close call if a mate is umpiring. This also has the disadvantage of the opposition not giving their own players out LBW Players at community club level don’t see umpires as competent these days
I attended my third Imparja Cup in 2012 in the role of umpire and decided to gauge opinion from a broader range of people while I was there.6 Findings were: *
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Some people had been involved in associations that pay umpires on the day as well as associations that pay through state offices. On the whole they preferred payment through state associations because it was more regimented and professional. Those who received cash after the game felt it was demeaning. They felt they were going, ‘cap in hand’, to be paid. It appears that South Australia - at least, in the hills area - are behind on this as many other states have already implemented a culture which instills an attitude of payment by the captain before the game so that umpires can feel valued. All people interviewed agreed that the only way umpires are going to garner respect is if they are, and appear, professional The only way to appear professional is to receive high quality training
Results to Cricket Australia of umpires being disrespected In regard to the vision CA has to making cricket Australia’s favourite sport, I feel that it is in jeopardy due to an issue that may be flying under the radar. Umpiring, at a grass roots level, is being disrespected, is struggling to survive and is finding it difficult to grow at the same rate as CA wants the game to grow. The detrimental effects, to the game and to CA’s vision, of having disrespected 6 Conversations between author and Imparja Cup personnel from around Australia, Feb 2012
umpires are: * * *
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Lack of potential staff attracted to the role of umpire Game can be degraded and changed for the worse (ie. It won’t resemble the spirit with which it was intended to be played in) Detracts from improvement that should be accessible to all parties (ie. Abuse doesn’t help anyone and it halts improvement and learning) Participants don’t enjoy a game where they are either feeling disrespected or are disrespecting others The sport doesn’t attract new participants Allows stagnation of numbers involved and feelings about the game (ie. “its difficult and it will always be difficult” - closemindedness) Cricket doesn’t grow to become Australia’s Favourite Sport
I agree that grass roots cricket should be focused on in order to build a strong foundation. I have looked at www.in2cricket.com.au and seen the co-ordinators resource sheets. The only reference on there to umpires is that they should teach participants what the correct signals are and that they should also be responsible for scoring on downloadable scoring sheets on the CD Rom provided to them. Although this instruction has the best intention it doesn’t take advantage of a perfect opportunity to educate new participants and build the strong foundation that CA needs. Many parents who have children starting in2cricket are new to the game themselves. This platform is an ideal entry into educating new participants correctly participants who, hopefully, will go on to staff the community cricket vacancies as their children graduate to higher level competition. But it requires support. With the advent of the internet, people are most comfortable going on-line to find out information in their initial stages of research. It is entirely conceivable that the co-ordinators of the in2Cricket centres are themselves not familiar with umpiring and umpiring signals. What would be extremely useful to these parents and support people is a link to umpiring information on-line. Additionally, in2Cricket is the perfect format in which to educate people in how to score. Although at in2Cricket level umpires are being asked to score as well, at club level, and upwards, umpires do not act as scorers. In order to instill the correct cricket culture and allow people the opportunity to gain confidence in performing the
jobs of scorers and umpires, it is imperative that in2Cricket includes education of parent helpers as well as education of children. These are the future participants of local community cricket. This is where the seed is planted to make ‘Cricket Australia’s Favourite Sport ’and this is where it begins to grow - with the right nurturing. I am very interested in working with a Cricket Australia Participation Growth Leader to design a format in which a trial of parent/helper umpire and scorer education could be undertaken by me at in2Cricket sessions. This is a measurable project that can be studied to gauge whether it can be used to solve the problems and threats to CA’s vision that I have outlined. I am very interested in designing an instruction sheet - a resource that can be accessed on-line by parents directly through the in2Cricket website at a convenient time that is designed from an umpire and cricket-lover’s perspective. The challenges that I have discussed can, I am sure, be overcome in this way. I come from a customer service background in both banking and hospitality. I strive to deliver an old-fashioned service that focuses on client satisfaction. This, combined with my passion for cricket, is why I wish to help Cricket Australia build their strong foundation at a grass roots level. I have found working with Cricket Australia at both Imparja Cup and the Under 17 National Championships to be the most satisfying employment I have ever done. I would love to be able to contribute to Cricket Australia’s vision in an area that I see as challenging. So far, I have been able to research the environment with my own resources. With my extensive experience in junior cricket coaching and co-ordination, parent liaison and school-based introductory level cricket education on a volunteer basis I am in a prime position to now focus on contributing to in2Cricket in a much greater capacity than I was able to do as a single-centre co-ordinator when my own son was very young. I can see where the program can take CA’s vision and I can see where I am able to help. The Simon Taufel personal development course offered to me was a gift that has inspired me to find a way to contribute to the game I love. With Cricket Australia’s backing I can improve grass roots level cricket, making the likelihood of realizing the vision of cricket as Australia’s favourite sport even more certain.
I look forward to discussing in more detail how I can aid Cricket Australia in assisting umpires to help make cricket Australia’s Favourite Sport. Email: Mobile:
thomas.craig@y7mail.com 0434 165 310