Sticky Wicket September 2013 The Ashes in review
PDCA UPDATE
5th Test at the Oval Judi and I had the good fortune to take a holiday in England for the recent 5 th Test. I had not previously been to the Oval and the following are some of my observations and comments.
On day 1 before the start of the match, the English players were practicing well before the Australians, and included much bowling-only by each English bowler in turn on a remote pitch to a single stump. After the toss, an official (not an umpire) checked each set of wickets with a tape vertically and with calipers horizontally, marking the results on a sheet of paper.
As soon as the toss was determined (won by Australia), each English bowler proceeded to mark their run-up, using spray paint. What was incredibly interesting, and what I thought was a bad omen, was the Australian bowlers also similarly marked their run-ups: did they expect a ginormous batting collapse?
The Oval is round. There are about 50 pitches across the width almost from boundary to boundary. All practicing is on the oval on some of these pitches. During rain interruptions, covers are placed over all pitches, full width of oval. It was staggering how many tall men (taller than Paul Wilson) there were at the cricket, and indeed in London and elsewhere we visited outside London.
So many different English accents, some hard to understand; all hard to understand by the end of the day’s play!
In most places, the area at rear of stands and the surrounding wall varies from about 2m to 30m so during breaks, the areas were wall to wall people.
Warm and sunny (26 degrees common) except for rained-off Saturday: supporter Ozzies wore caps and hats, English had none, many men with tops off enjoying their rare hot summer.
So much alcohol being consumed before play and whilst watching cricket: English pints in 4 container carriers; carafes of bubbly, rose (popular) and still white in long plastic carry bags with ice cube packing.
The lights at the Oval are retractable (as they are at Lords).
11 am normal start: 2 days, umpires called off play just before 7.30pm.
Day 2 rain started at 1030 and covers across oval were quickly in place. 2 large super-soppers continuous until 2.15pm with 2.30 start.
Judi and I sought shelter from our wet seating area at an covered open hospitality area at level 1. A man did he same next to us and we recognized him as Jim Carter: he is the butler Carson in Downton Abbey and has appeared in about 40 films. We engaged in talk with him for 1½ hours: mates!
Jim is Chairman of Hamstead Cricket Club.
Late day 2 with, England had 9 fielders just inside the boundary rope. Crowd booing slow tactics with Cook occasionally running from boundary to bowler or to ‘keeper for a discussion. Umpires slow to stop this tactic.
8/490; angry crowd at Clarke not declaring earlier; wicket falls 1 run later and then he declares!
Day 3 and terribly slow batting about 2 runs /over has crowd loose interest and take to excessive drinking in the public seating surrounding us; ugly and uglier: sculling, throwing things competitions, shouting, booing, etc.
Day 4 and we guessed it would rain all day so did not show up: it rained all day: we get a refund for the cost of our tickets that day!
Day 5 and Clarke declares 2nd innings mid way through tea. Why so late when it was obvious by Ozzies thrashing batting that he was going to declare.
England need 227 of 44 overs (just over 5 r/o: generous).
Players back on the field after 20 minutes tea break and roller still completing its 7 minutes!
Soon it’s 6 r/o off 17 with 2 down and “gettable” particularly with Ozzies bowling too short.
On TV rhe light probably did not look too bad, but it was obvious that fielders were having trouble as often they would start to run wrong way to chase the ball. England, particularly Pieterson, were batting terrifically.
Much booing if Australians slightly slowed down anything by a field change or bowling change Harris eventually gets “his long awaited injury” during one of his overs and leaves field: that was a loss for Oz.
Umpires call off play at about 728pm and booing and jeering was deafening.
Supporters around us were not very polite to us, to other Ozzies and to umpires. Strings of adjectives were heard!
C’mon crowd, it was a great Test: how many times does a team declare twice, and with 4 overs to go anything could have happened: England were 5 down with 21 to win going for it as much as Australia.
A world record for test runs in a day: 447runs and 16 wickets and an extra 1½ hours play: it gets no better than that with no result!!!!!!!!!! Tim Pellew
Steve Davis It is not often that cricket umpires get headlines in daily press. On May 27 2013, the British Daily Mail in reporting about the 2nd Test between England and New Zealand commenced a long article by one of their cricket correspondents Paul Newman: “ Perhaps Steve Davis is a compassionate soul and could not bring himself to put an end to Nick Compton’s misery at Headingly yesterday.” (Ed note: Nick opened the batting for England in their 2nd innings). “Or maybe , as an Australian, Davis was thinking England might just be a weaker side in the Ashes with Compton at the top of the order rather than Joe Root, and wanted to leave him be. The truth, of course, is that an excellent umpire made a mistake in this second Investec Test by ruling the opener not out but in these days of technology, it brought no reprieve for a man who may well have played himself out of the biggest series in cricket.”
It was a bat-pad decision that Steve gave not out that was overturned. The article continues “Everyone, it seemed, knew he was out apart from Davis, and he was soon told the truth by the TV umpire.” It is not often that umpires get so much comment in the press, and yet there are so many instances where technology shows that cricketers and umpires are either right or wrong! Umpires are probably correct more times than the appealers!
facebook.com/sacricketumpiresandscorers
PDCA Update Our enthusiastic band is eagerly looking forward to the new season. We held our AGM last week and will have one more get-together in the week prior to the season opener (Saturday 12 October.) Despite making numerous calls of encouragement, we again seem to have been unsuccessful in recruiting . . . . but we’ll keep trying to convince recent retirees that we do indeed have ‘the best seat in the house’! We congratulate our star performers of last season: Frank Brown most improved, newcomer Brad Ryall as Level 2 & 3 winner, and Les Harrison won his second successive prestigious Brian Bullen Medal. Rose & Crown won the Grade 1 Premiership, and it will be good to see Grade 2 Premiers Riverside back in Grade 1. Our senior and Under 21s association sides both won their respective SAMCA competitions – we’re not sure how successful this season’s competitions will be as SAMCA is looking to run them midweek. Courtesy of our ‘local’, The Old Spot Hotel, we have been able to supply all our members with on-field shirts and jackets, and off-field shirts, as well as cover the costs of our Registrations. Without the luxury of travelling assessors and coaches, our major efforts this year will again see us attempting to educate our captains in giving us some constructive feedback via the assessment report. Bob Eldridge
Funny Stuff Henry Blofield Surely we all enjoy listening to Henry Blofield (Bloers he is called) and he names “all” players (annoyingly)with ers on the end where possible and that seems to be 99% of the time although he struggled with Ryan Harris! If you want a real laugh, search Henry Blofield interview –youtube. Weak joke Two Aussies, Ferret & Knackers, were adrift in a life boat. While rummaging through the boat's provisions, Ferret stumbled across an old lamp. He rubbed it vigorously and sure enough out popped a genie. This genie, however was a little different. He stated he could only deliver one wish, not the standard three. Without giving much thought, and before Knackers could think of anything to say,Ferret blurted out, "Turn the entire ocean into beer. Make that Victoria Bitter!" The genie clapped his hands with a deafening crash, and immediately the sea turned into that hard-earned thirst quencher. The genie vanished. Only the gentle lapping of beer on the hull broke the stillness as the two men considered their circumstances. Knackers looked disgustedly at Ferret whose wish it was had been granted. After a long, tension-filled moment Knackers said, "Nice going, you D***head! Now we're going to have to piss in the boat."
Scorers and Umpires to agree
Old Umpires
(With thanks to Notchers’ News, issue 23 of Sept 2013)
How old is too old to umpire? As long as the job is being well done and players accept and respect ageing umpires, there is no definitive answer to this. Players say they want good or best available umpires. Umpires would know when their time is right to retire due to their age and ability.
It is T20 match. Side A scored 168 - 8 from their 20 overs. Side B are on 168 – 9 and it is the last valid ball of the 20th over. The opening batsman for Side B is facing. He is 97 not out from 86 balls and has never scored a hundred before. How should the following scenarios be called? Scenario 1 He strikes the ball with his bat and the batsmen run and complete 1 run before the ball rolls over the boundary. Scenario 2 The bowler delivers a Wide ball. The wicket keeper sees that the batsman is out of his ground, removes the bails and appeals. Answers later in this issue.
A Test umpire retired after a disastrous decision he made during a Test. He ran to position at the bowler’s end to adjudge a possible run-out and gave the runner out: the trouble was that there was an injured batter at strike and his runner actually ran behind the umpire! English Umpire David Shepherd MBE (27 December 1940 – 27 October 2009 )was a first-class cricketer who played county cricket for Gloucestershire, and later became one of the cricket world's best-known umpires. He stood in 92 Test matches, the last of them in June 2005, the most for any English umpire. He also umpired 172 ODIs, including three consecutive World Cup, finals in 1996, 1999 and 2003. At
Numerology
Some readers may have heard about The 11:11 phenomenon. Many of you surely would have looked at your watch (or if you are young looked at your iphone!!!!!!) for the time of day to see it was 11:11. It is a common occurrence. Australian batters etc are superstitious about being on 87: 13 (devil’s number) runs short of 100. English batters are similarly superstitious about 111 (known as Nelson, or possibly the stumps with bails knocked off!). Famous, or well known English umpire, the late David Shepherd made popular the longstanding practice of raising a leg or legs from the ground on Nelson in an effort to avoid ill fate. When crowds noticed this, they would cheer his leg-raising. I noticed that in the recent England v Australia at Durham, England batted first and at 111 off 11.1 overs a wicket fell leaving the score at 111/1!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Answers to T20 Scenarios Scenario 1 Once the 1st run is completed, that run stands and ends the match before the ball crosses the boundary So: The opening batsman is on 98 (Not Out) The Final score is 169 – 9 The match result is Win for Side B by 1 wicket. However, If the umpire signalled a boundary four yet the scorers were quite clear that there had been a run completed before the ball crossed the boundary, the scorers must accept the signal; it may be that the umpire judged that the boundary preceded the completed run (or was not watching the running batters!). In this case, the batsman gets his century (ending 101*), recorded as on ball 20.6; Team B finishes with 172, still winning by one wicket with no balls remaining.’ (Editor’s comment: It might be wise for the scorers to check with the umpire before making an entry in the scoring record). Scenario 2
Lord’s Shape As mentioned, The Oval is round. Lord’s is a rectangle.
Attached is part of an email response to me from Lord’s, (received after the Lord’s Test): “Thank you Tim for your email. Seeing as you're Australian we will be nice to you and try and answer your questions!! Being English, we are somewhat old fashioned(!) and so the official
According to Law 25.3(a), a Wide ball is considered a wide at the instant of delivery, although not called until after it passes the wicket. Therefore the winning run from the wide is accrued at the point of delivery and the subsequent stumping is irrelevant. Had the batsman hit the ball and had been caught, the ball would not have been considered a wide and the outcome would have been different. So: The opening batsman is on 97 (Not Out) The final score is 169 – 9 The match result is Win for Side B by 1 wicket No notes box entry as the opening batsman has not scored 100 (Editor’s comment: Scorers should consider making a note that the innings ended at 19.5 overs - the last delivery was not a valid delivery – ie not one that counts in the over).
dimensions are measured in yards - 147 yards x 174 yards. I have just done a quick conversion and apparently, this makes it 134.42 metres by
159.11 metres. We have 17 pitches across the square and then a further two on the outside edges for practice only. The pitches nearest the boundary ropes are only used for minor matches, such as the Army v Navy and Cambridge v Oxford etc because the distance to the nearest boundary from these are too short for first class cricket.”
Bent Joke Paddy spies a letter lying on his doormat. It says on the envelope "DO NOT BEND ". Paddy spends the next 2 hours trying to figure out how to pick it up.
Obstructing the Field Mohammad Hafeez's dismissal for Obstructing the field in an ODI between Pakistan and South Africa earlier this year brought this sometimes forgotten Law into the spotlight. Hafeez was given out Obstructing the field early in Pakistan's chase in the fourth ODI at Kingsmead, Durban, by fourth Umpire Billy Bowden, following an appeal from the South Africa fieldsmen. The dismissal brought Law 37 (Obstructing the field) into the spotlight. Law 37 reads: 37.1 Out Obstructing the field Either batsman is out Obstructing the field if he wilfully obstructs or distracts the fielding side by word or action. Furthermore, it shall be regarded as obstruction if while the ball is in play either batsman wilfully, and without the consent of a fielder, strikes the ball with his bat or person, other than a hand not holding the bat, after the ball has been touched by a fielder. This shall apply whether or not there is any disadvantage to the fielding side. 37.2 Accidental obstruction It is for either umpire to decide whether any obstruction or distraction is wilful or not. He shall consult the other umpire if he has any doubt. In 2011 the ICC added a clarification to their playing conditions for international cricket, which stated: Law 37 shall apply. For the avoidance of doubt, if an umpire feels that a batsman, in running between the wickets, has significantly changed his direction without probable cause and thereby obstructed a fielder’s attempt to effect a run out, the batsman should, on appeal, be given out, obstructing the field. It shall not be relevant whether a run out would have occurred or not. If the change of direction involves the batsman crossing the pitch, Law 42.14 shall also apply. MCC felt that the ICC clarification was contained within the first line of the Law, hence the use of their phrasing of “for the avoidance of doubt” rather than a stronger word like “additionally”. However, MCC had no concern over the ICC clarification and indeed the Club worked closely with ICC when this matter was being discussed. When adjudicating on the Hafeez run out, Bowden would have been assessing both these statements, paying particular attention to whether the batsman has: Wilfully obstructed the fielding side through his action while running between the wickets. He would have also considered whether; Hafeez significantly changed his direction without probable cause and obstructed the run out attempt. Bowden clearly felt that the incident satisfied the Law and Hafeez was dismissed.
With acknowledgement to MCC Laws Dept for the above information. (One wonders how long Umpire Billy Bowden took to consider and reach this decision. Were any of our umpire or scorers actually watching this incident and can comment? Ed)