‘We don’t have any Umpires, fancy standing out in the middle?’ - Cricket Umpiring by Pete Ogborne

I met with Pete Ogborne, who I have known as an Umpiring Colleague, a cricket (and life) Mentor and a good friend for the past 6 years. He offered his take of what cricket has been like for him as the man in the white coat during the past 22 years. Being the first interview, the aim was to ask Pete about how he got into cricket and why he has continued to Umpire for so long. This will hopefully resonate to those who have finished playing and are looking for the way to cross the boundary.

Pete started his playing career at Brislington CC in the Western League and after several seasons, joined Keynesham in then mid 1980s.. He played regularly but suffered a bad knee injury and stopped at the age of 39. Once he finished playing, he was looking forward to taking the spectator role.

5 years later, his son Neil started playing for Chew Magna CC aged 12 and this rekindled Pete’s interest in cricket. As Pete would follow his son far and wide throughout the depths of Somerset (being the designated driver), he got to know many of his Son’s team mates and also the other teams within the Shrubbery Cricket League.

On one Saturday in the Summer, as Pete was poised to watch his Son in another Chew Magna Second X1 fixture one of the Chew Magna players said ‘Oh Pete we don’t have any Umpires, fancy standing out in the middle?”. It did not take long, according to Pete, to respond, “I’ll give it a go, I’d like to help out the lads.”

Apparently, Pete suited the white coat, was able to count to 6 and he continued umpiring 4 seasons of Second X1 cricket. It was a great way of getting back in the game and his reputation surpassed him in the Shrubbery Somerset league as ‘an Umpire that knew what he was doing’. Pete progressed on to Umpiring the Chew Magna 1st X1 as requested by Derrick Hick to help the Umpires association (as Chew Magna is quite a long way off the beaten track - in the middle of nowhere) and remained as the man in the middle as a Neutral for 6 years.

Chew Magna moved into the Bristol and District Senior Division and Pete had no intention of continuing – Pete had been looking forward to seeing Chew Magna in the new league and take a step back from the middle. The Bristol and District Association of Cricket Umpires and Officials Appointments Officer, Peter Smithard, contacted Pete to ask him to Umpire in the leagues in 1996. A little reluctantly, he agreed to help for the first two games of the 1996 season as they were desperately short of numbers…. or so he thought!!

Pete continued to Umpire every Saturday as requested by the association. Pete instantly loved umpiring and he had realised that he could Umpire at a decent level as he did not have the chance to play the game at such a high level. He wanted to be involved with Cricket at a high level, and this was soon a reality.Pete progressed to the WEPL Third division (now the Bristol and Somerset League in 1st season. The standard of cricket was slightly higher, the players were of a higher skill set but still progressing through the ranks. The higher the league, the higher the standard but for Pete it heightened the enjoyment and did not change his fundamentals of Umpiring; concentration, handling a situation and working well with his colleague to ensure the cricket is the main spectacle.

In Pete’s words, ‘we all make mistakes but players in Premier 1 are less forgiving if you appear to make a mistake, but the principles of Umpiring remain the same from 2nd X1 village cricket to the height of Premier 1 cricket’.

I asked Pete to describe his best experience on the Cricket field. As he expressed, there are so many matches he has umpired and there are a variety of stories Pete could have recalled (such as the caught behind appeal he gave not out from the Afghanistan Fast bowler in a friendly against Gloucestershire which Pete swore blind it hit the batsman’s forearm, yet the Afghanistan team swore blind it was off the glove– ask him about that one!!), however, he proceeded to describe a local derby game between Corsham CC and Bath CC and the crescendo of action on the last ball of the match.

The scores were level. The Bath batsmen required one run to win, Corsham needed one wicket. Pete was wary of the run out, he was quick to position, his movement was good, he was square on to the wicket (the best position for an umpire at a run out) and he was still. In one frantic end to the cricket match Pete gave his decision – Out, was Adam Kelly of Bath CC, who despite diving and producing a muddy cloud of dust was short by a yard and a half. What an end to a 50 over game of cricket. Pete felt that a cricket match like that, where the players and spectators had an enjoyable afternoon from start to the very end, was exactly the reason he loves being out in the middle. To echo one of Pete’s favourite umpiring experiences, the then Captain of Corsham CC, Ashur Morrison, described it is a ‘crazy game’. You can find the write up in the local news tabloid here: https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/sport/14614245.premier-one-hot-coles-rescues-a-tie-for-corsham/

Pete’s advice to any ‘up and coming’ Umpires who may find themselves in the same position as he did following his retiring hurt from the cricket pitch as a player, is to make the first step and go to an ECB Umpiring Level 1 course (for more information search here https://www.ecb.co.uk/be-involved/officials/find-a-course/Umpiring-courses ). In Pete’s words, ‘get yourself out on the field and find out how much you enjoy the game from the best seat in the house’.

Pete may be on his way down to Cornwall during the off season; however, if this does not happen he will be umpiring in the West Country for as long as his eyes, ears and legs will allow him.

Umps

Oggy and Umps