A cricket umpire is an odd sort of person, standing out in the middle of a park counting six balls at the bowler’s end then wandering off to square leg to take a short rest before coming back to the bowler’s end to count to six again. This goes on all day! Why does anyone do it? The answer is to be be part of the “gentleman’s game”.
But is it a gentleman’s game now? We see players with different abilities, and also the best and worst of human nature. Umpires are never allowed to make mistakes- umpiring mistakes ruin a game, we’re told by players. When a bowler bowls badly or a batsman fails to score, that’s called “bad luck", and not a mistake on the player’s part!
In recent years, there have been problems of player behaviour, fielders and bowlers abusing batsmen, and some batsmen not accepting the umpire’s decision in such a way that everyone sees it, on and off the field. Soon all the umpires and players get to know who these blokes are and watch out for them.
Why is there such a struggle to recruit umpires? I’m told that the “life” of a sports official is about 1 8 months (two seasons). And the reason for the drop out is attitude of the players in that sport! Without officials, the game has no meaning.
That’s why every Sunday in summer, there are always two umps eager to come out to The Willows to umpire real cricket, played in the spirit of the game, to mingle with the players and enjoy the company of either team, and of course the hospitality!