A Beginners Guide To Umpiring

INFORMATION AND ADVICE

In cricket, the Umpire has 3 roles.

1. To run the game for the players. Examples. Counting the number of balls in an over and telling the players when the over has been completed. Helping batsmen to take 'guard'. Holding jumpers. Making sure the correct number of players are on the field.

2. To liaise with the scorers on the boundary. Make sure there are scorers ready to record the game. There are a series of arm movements which tell the scorers what is going on.

3. To make Decisions. These fall into 3 categories.

B/ Whether a bowler's delivery is legal or not.

 C/ how many and what type of runs have been scored. 

Confused already?? I hope not. So, lets go back to the beginning.

 1. RUNNING THE GAME.

 When the game is ready to start there should be 2 umpires on the field. One stands at 90degrees to the wickets at the position known as square leg. (Try to not look like a fielder. Wear a coat or something). The other umpire stands behind the stumps at the end from which the bowler is about to bowl. The batsman may ask you for a 'guard'. That means, is his bat in front of leg, middle or off stump. Or middle and leg etc. He will tell you what he wants. Then the bowler runs up to bowl. He should bowl six legitimate deliveries. Then you shout 'over' and somebody does the same thing from the other end. So an aid to counting is useful. Coins perhaps.

 DECISIONS. This is where you can have your first decisions to make. Is the bowler bowling legally?

 3 questions.

 First....is he bowling from the correct place? Some part of his front foot (i.e. the foot he leads with) must be behind the front crease (that's the one where the batsman takes guard). It can be on the ground or in the air but it must be behind that front line as he bowls. Simple. Less common is that also all of his back foot must be inside the line that runs down the side joining the two creases. (For some reason it's called the 'return' crease). It must not even be touching it. But only the back foot. The front foot can be as wide as he likes.

 The second question is 'is he bowling and not throwing'? That's why we have the second umpire at square leg. The umpire at the bowler's end can't really see. The arm he bowls with must be straight at the elbow as he bowls. That's basically it. Very unusual to see somebody pulled up for throwing in our cricket. More common with foreign players particularly Americans. Probably kinder to have a word with the captain. But if you are sure and want it stopped then the umpire at square leg puts his arm out horizontally and shouts 'no ball'. That means it isn't a legal delivery and apart from 'run out' (more of this later), the batsman can't be out from it. 

The third question is 'can the batsman reach the ball to hit it'? If not then the umpire at the bowler's end puts out BOTH arms horizontally and shouts 'wide ball'. Wides are often contentious. This is generally because everyone watches cricket on TV where the umpires are often very harsh on wides in one day games. (Especially down the leg side). But the rule is quite simple. Could the batsman have hit the ball from where he took guard? The two lines down the side are a help. The main thing is...'be consistent'. Try to get both captains to agree on what constitutes a wide before the game begins. In my opinion you shouldn't give a wide simply because the ball goes down the leg side. (Which is happening more and more in televised one day games). In general I give wides when the ball passes the batsman outside either of the 'return' creases. In the Staff League anyway.

 So, lets reconsider. .......................

You've been asked to umpire. You stand behind the wickets from which the bowler will bowl the first over. You give the batsman his 'guard'. You've got your coins to help you count up to six. The bowler bowls. His front foot is on the line. He isn't throwing. The ball lands near enough for the batsman to hit it. That happens six times. Over. That's it. A maiden over. Errr....well not quite. I forgot to say that if the ball bounces more than twice that's a no ball as well. And if there are any no balls or wides in the over they don't count as part of the six. Oh...and if the ball passes the batsman above his waist without bouncing, that's a no ball too. But, that the over if nothing happens.

 Now, if the batsman hits the ball and decides to run try to position yourself so that you can see the line in front of your wicket. Why? Because the batsman has to put his bat down over that line for it to be one run. If he turns and goes back without having put his bat down it isn't a run. And if a fielder hits the wicket before his bat or some part of his body is down over the line then the batsman is out. Also, watch out, it has to be the ball that hits the wicket not the fielder's hand. If it's a hand without the ball then that's not out. Remember you are also communicating with the scorer(s) about the score. If it's one or two runs the scorer will see the batsmen run. But if it's 4 runs (which means the ball has crossed the boundary line after bouncing. Make sure you know where the boundary is!) Then you tell the scorer by waving your right arm horizontally across your midriff. If it's 6 runs (the ball has crossed the boundary before bouncing) then that's indicated by raising both arms in the air above your head. If the wicket keeper, for instance, misses the ball and the batsmen take a run without having hit the ball, that's called a bye. You tell the scorer by putting just one arm in the air. If the ball hits the batsman's leg whilst he is attempting a stroke and they run, then that's called a leg bye. You signal a bye but also pat your leg. If it hits the leg and the batsman isn't making a stroke then they can't run. So, now you know how to judge and signal runs, and count to six.

 That's about half of all there is to umpiring. 

The other half is what happens when the fielding side think they have got the batsman 'out'.

 The batsman can be out in 10 (Ten) different ways. 

1. Bowled. The ball bowled legitimately by the bowler strikes the wicket either because the batsman misses it or if it deflects off his bat or body. At least one bail must fall to the ground. If neither are dislodged then it isn't out. To be bowled it can't hit the wicket keeper or a fielder. 

2. Caught. The ball comes from the bat or any part of the hand holding the bat and before hitting the ground is caught by a fielder. The ball is caught once the fielder is in complete control of the ball. If it touches his hand but then falls to the ground that isn't out. The fielder must remain inside the boundary at all time in taking the catch. More than one fielder can be involved in taking the catch. 

3. Leg Before Wicket. (L.B.W.) The hardest decisions for an umpire to make. Remember above all that the batsman can only be given out if the ball hits his leg when it would have hit the wicket. It can't hit the bat before the leg. The ball must not have first hit the ground outside the leg stump. But most of all you must be sure it would have hit the wicket! In Staff league cricket I only give L.B.W. when the batsman is hit on the leg right in front of the wicket. Remember the bowler gets another ball but the batsman only gets one innings so be absolutely sure before you give him out. If the ball hits the batsman above the knee then it was probably going over the wicket. 

 4. Run Out. When a fielder hits the wicket with the ball whilst the batsmen are attempting to run. You have to judge that the ball hits the wicket before the bat crosses the line. Not easy sometime. Watch out when the ball is thrown to the wicket keeper. They often break the wickets before they have caught the ball (not out). Concentrate whilst you are umpiring at square leg. This is one of the things you are there for. Another unusual aspect of run out is that if a bowler feels that the non striking batsman is continually stealing ground by leaving his crease as the bowler is bowling he can initially warn him but after that he is allowed to remove the bails at the non striker's end 

5. Stumped. This is very similar to run out. It happens when the wicket keeper breaks the wicket with the batsman out of his ground not attempting a run. He may have taken a step down the wicket to hit the ball. Given out from square leg. You need to be alert, it happens very quickly. 

6. Hit wicket. This is when a batsman breaks his wicket whilst attempting to hit the ball. Either with his foot or bat. But not when completing a run. 

7. Hit ball twice. Not common. The batsman can hit the ball again to defend his wicket but not to try and score a run.

8. Handled ball. This sometimes happens if the batsman sees the ball falling onto his wicket or falling towards the wicket keeper for a catch. But he is out if he tries to deflect it with his hand. 

9. Obstructing the Field. Similar. The batsman is out if he attempts to stop a fielder taking a catch or fielding the ball. 

10. Timed out. The Fielding side can claim a wicket if the new batsman is not at the crease 2 minutes after the previous wicket has fallen. A bit unsporting. Doesn't often happen. 

In all cases the fielding side are expected to appeal to the umpire for a batsman's dismissal. Normally they will shout 'hows that?' If the umpire after consideration (take as long as you need) feels that the batsman is out, then he / she normally raises the right index finger. There are a couple of other possibilities. If a player becomes verbally or physically abusive then the matter is reported to the team captain. Umpires can request captains to remove players from the field of play as a final step. Pretty much unheard of in the Staff League. Phew.... So now you know how to start and continue the game, communicate with the scorers and uphold or reject appeals. What Else?

  Errr....normally if the 2 captains can't agree on something it will be referred to you. Recent examples. Is it raining too hard to continue? Is the ball too damaged to continue with. i.e. should it be changed? There can also be 'local rules'. On 22 acres there is a tree on the pitch. If the ball hits the tree from the bat then it's a 4. Not though if a fielder hits a few leaves throwing it back. There must be lots of other things. If you're interested in taking this further the local Umpires association runs courses. Leagues are always looking for umpires. You can get paid! But I think I've really written enough. Good luck.