At one point or another during the season you will find yourself dressed in a white coat and expected to give decisions on matters of life and death.
No, we are not all training to be doctors; we are talking about everyone taking their turn to be umpire. Similar to amateur level football, where clubs provide a linesman, in cricket the batting side will often umpire their own teams innings. This obviously helps to keep costs to a minimum, but it does involve the whole team pulling their weight.
We will aim to keep the experienced players amongst us out as umpire as long as possible, but it is inevitable that inexperienced players will have to do their turn as well. Remember two umpires have to be provided, as one has to keep an eye out for stumpings and run outs from square leg.
For the inexperienced umpire, there are three real areas to focus on as things like people being bowled, caught and run out speak for themselves.
1. No balls and wides from the bowler. Please ask an experienced player about the no ball rule if you are unsure. As for wides, it is basically a wide if the batsman could not reach the ball from his usual stance. (Although things do tighten up for Twenty/20matches)
2. Signals. This is basically how the umpire alerts the players and scorer to his decision. Again, ask advice or have a look on the internet for more details.
3. LBW (Leg before wicket). This is probably the most common area for inexperienced umpires to get flustered over. The rules are complicated, but you cannot go wrong by applying common sense. Ask yourself the following question, “Was the ball going to hit the stumps for certain”. Remember also that a batsman cannot be given out if he is playing a shot and the ball bounces first outside leg stump.
If you are unsure or confused please ask for help, as at some point there is every chance that you will be called into duty. We will do everything we can to protect the inexperienced umpires, but be prepared in case there is no alternative but for you to be thrown in at the deep end.