Cricket umpires have hard life

Press, 5 December 1979, Page 30

Cricket umpires have hard life

It is no novelty for a cricket team touring this country to make critical comment on umpiring standards in New Zealand. It is just as common for New Zealand players overseas to find fault with the umpires. Umpiring is a trying task, with the game’s complex laws being amended season by season, and with — at test level — increasing pressure from petulant players. Putting on the white coat could be regarded as I an act of courage as well

as a mark of enthusiasm for the game. New Zealand umpiring standards are not low. But they would be better if there were not so many men officiating at firstclass level. The need for the appointments to be so thinly spread is unfortunate, but costs are of paramount importance. Ideally, there should be a small group of the best men available for the first-class season, but the cost of sending them about the country would be prohibitive, so at provincial level local appointments are made almost invariably. With the qualified firstclass umpires getting so few matches, it is little

wonder there are complaints about their lack of experience. A prime example of this is the career of Fred Goodall, who must rank very high indeed among New Zealand’s most proficient umpires. This season is his seventeenth since he won first-class status, but his appointments total only 47. And of those, 10 were during his half-season in England last year. In three of his 16 seasons. he had only one match. His busiest domestic season was in 1966-67, when he had five matches in a summer which brought the Austmlians on tour. But if 47 does not seem a huge total, it leaves him only three

behind the national record, held by Trevor Martin of Wellington, and it took Martin 21 seasons to reach 50. Martin umpired in 22 tests and international matches and Goodall has a long way to go to catch him there, he has had 10 such matches. It is a great pity that the best men do not get more work. Perhaps some day a fairy godmother, in the form of a sponsoring firm, might support the New Zealand Cricket Umpires’ Association; umpiring is a vitally important part of cricket, and it deserves as much support as that given to players, with their financial awards, and the game’s administration. In Christchurch, the um-

pires’ association has never been in a healthier state. At present the Canterbury Cricket Umpires’ Association has 26 active members. Not very many years ago, there were only about eight. Of the 26 on the list, 19 are qualified to umpire in senior matches, and there are 15 who have passed the New Zealand examination and may therefore be appointed to first-class matches. It is an impressive number of men dedicated to cricket, willing to spend long days in the field, exposed to criticism and, quite often, finding a complete lack of appreciation. Perhaps they will win their rewards in heaven.

By

R. T. BRITTENDEN