At the Start of Play - The Origins and Aims of Over, Time and Umps

‘If you practise hard enough Sam, you’ll be out in the middle one day’ my Father would always say. I think he meant as a player, but perhaps he’d realised I wouldn’t quite become the next Ian Botham! Ever since I was a young boy, my Father would take me along to cricket nets and would let me bat and bowl for hours. On many occasions we would have a net session whilst a First Eleven match was being played. My Father lost his battle to cancer in 2008 when I was 16. It hit me hard as he was the catalyst behind my love of cricket and it was only through the comradery and togetherness I felt from playing Cricket that helped me overcome the sadness; the chat, the desire to win as a team and the away days – the driving factors behind all cricketers brushing their spikes off for ‘one last match’.

After a few years of making up the numbers, opening the batting, and quickly returning to the Pavilion (or Tin Shed) I was usually umpiring for the remainder of my team’s innings. As we all know, there are certain individuals who will do anything to get out of going out to the middle with the white coat on, standing behind the stumps and counting to 6 for 10 overs or so. I, however, found it kept me engaged in a game that I would have otherwise have been a helpless spectator for once I’d been bowled an absolute peach (aka I’d left a straight one) whilst batting. As all club cricketers who do not have neutral umpires are aware, LBWs appear to have to be plum if they’re going to be given, however, I lost the respect of a few of my teammates for what they, in their opinion, called a questionable decisions throughout my short career in adult cricket. During one match, in a very finely poised match, I was fielding at Mid On (one of the places the Captain tried to hide me) and their best bat chipped one up to me and I, with a solid base, hands ready Ozzy style and sure there was no way of dropping such an easy chance, shelled it. It went through my hands, hit me on the face and trickled 2 feet in front of me. With that, the Veteran Second X1 captain, exhaled and roared ‘you should take up f*****g umpiring at least then you wouldn’t f**k up a sitter like that’ – what a catalyst in my cricketing life. As the season came to an end, I undertook my Level 1 Umpiring course at the County Ground in Bristol and the following season I would turn from mediocre 2 X1/ 3 X1 ‘cricketer’ to Umpire.

I remember my first official game as an appointed umpire in the 2012 season well; a Bristol and District Cricket Association Division Two appointment between Coalpit Heath and Lodway Cricket Club. I was nervous, but not like I had experienced during my short playing ‘career’. I did not have to worry about the bowler being too quick, running my team mate out, dropping a dolly or that the teas I had prepared would be stale and dry. I was nervous because I was no longer a player doing ‘his stint in the middle’, I was now the judge, jury and executioner of 22 players for the next 7 hours; teams and players who I had never seen or met before. Throughout the day’s play I would work with my colleague to ensure that we facilitated the game of cricket to the best of our ability. I remember the first decision I gave- the opening batsman walking across and in-front of all 3 stumps and thinking ‘f**k me where have the stumps gone?!’ and raising my finger for the first time as an appointed umpire – the Umps.

The day in its entirety could not have gone better and the game went quickly, before I knew it, both Captains had bought me a pint and were quick to explain how they had both thought ‘he’s a bit young to be umpiring isn’t he’ but their doubts had quickly passed as the game went on. To be out in the middle, to go about the match quietly but effectively and to be at times a spectator of the game I’ve loved for years, was where I wanted to be for a very long time to come.

Since that very first game, I have loved being out in the middle as a neutral with my colleague chatting to the batsman, bowlers and fielders and understanding their troubles and ensuring the game runs as smoothly as possible and is the spectacle the players and crowd look forward to during the week (weather permitting!). I have been lucky enough to advance through the West of England Premier League and have had some appointments to games I never would have dreamed of when I started Umpiring. I am experiencing the wonders of the long-standing game; the raw pace of the fast ‘angry’ opening bowlers to the tactility and resilience of the spin bowlers, the prowess and caressing of the ball from the opening batsmen to the tail ender who has one shot in his locker - to put the ball as far over the trees as he can all the while shouting ‘Pick ‘e out the stingers young ‘un’. I truly do have the best position on the field. I am travelling to various clubs around the South West and to other parts of the country, however, I really do have the best seat in the house.

The aim of the posts, blogs and interviews within Over, Time and Umps, is to make cricket available to the cricket fan. It is allowing those beyond the boundary; both old and young, to experience Cricket from the Umps’ position in the middle brushing shoulders with the players. In effect Over, Time and Umps aims to envelop all aspects of Cricket and interact with the wider cricketing community. Over, Time and Umps will act as a platform for local cricket and those involved with the game to share their experiences of cricket to those who otherwise may not have had the opportunity.

My innings has just begun and I have a lot of hard work to get over the line, succeed and retire happily to the pavilion, however, I hope like many great cricketers have done throughout History I provide a little entertainment along the way.

Umps