The first edition of Musings was well received, so we are continuing with it.

References

The Laws of Cricket are one of the most complex of any sport with 42 Laws (or 43 if you believe our President) and five annexes. We then have a number of Playing Conditions to deal with. It is for this reason, that we include detailed references to help in identifying the Laws or Playing Conditions under discussion so you can give them a good read.

Of course, a Playing Condition overrides or adds to the Laws of Cricket.

Definition of the bat

Eagle eyed Peter Larter has pointed out the following in the Playing Conditions.

Part B – Competition general playing conditions – Law 5 – The bat, which states,

‘4.1 There is no restriction on the bats used in all senior and Veterans matches.’

Peter was rightly concerned that this suggests that the bat could be any size in width or depth and made of any material, which contradicts Laws of Cricket Law 5 and Appendix B which restricts the size, material, adhesives used on a bat and types of bats, i.e., A, B, C and D.

Peter Goodchap replied to our query re this and said that the bat has to be a traditional wooden cricket bat and there is no need to measure them.

In our time umpiring, we have never seen anyone use anything apart from a traditional bat’. If you have, let us know as there is bound to be a good story around it .

How do the Playing Conditions describe a wide – One Day game – 1^st – 6^th Grade

At a recent 2^nd Grade One Day Game, a Training team member was having the pre-game discussion with the Captains and was surprised to hear them say that this season, they have heard too many different versions from umpires as to what a wide is. As such, it was considered appropriate to refresh what the Playing Conditions say about a wide (One Day Game).

Part D – One Day Playing Conditions Law 22 Wide Ball gives guidance on how a wide is to be judged in games across 1^st – 6^th Grade. There are a number of points to consider, which are summarised and commented on below:

1. We are asked to apply a strict and consistent interpretation to this Law of Cricket to avoid negative bowling.

• If in the opinion of the umpire the ball does not give the batter a reasonable opportunity to score then it shall be called a wide (links into the first point; be consistent)
• For guidance wide crease markings should be showing on both the off and leg side. They are for guidance as there are some factors to consider:

1. Off side wides. Generally, if the ball passes outside the Off Side Wide Line it shall be a wide, provided they have maintained a normal batting position and not brought the ball within reach.

Let’s dissect this. A couple of things have to occur:

• The ball has to pass outside the Off Side Wide Line, meaning the ball has to be fully outside the width of the line and for consistency, outside the line from where the line intersects with the Popping Crease.
• The batter hasn’t moved, as they have maintained their normal batting position.

Considerations. If the batter does bring the ball within reach (even if outside the line), the Off Side Wide Line shall be ignored, i.e., the line moves.

This is where it can get a bit tricky. A trigger movement to the off side without a consequent attempt to play a stroke may still be a wide, compared to a deliberate foot movement and cut stroke which misses the ball.

This was a point that the two Captains made. It is your decision; based on what you see, just be consistent.

Return crease. Regardless of whether the line moves or not, if the ball goes outside the Return crease it shall be called a wide.

• Leg side wides. Any ball that goes down leg shall be called wide unless:
• The ball passes between batter and wicket, i.e., the batter has stepped to the leg
• The batter has moved to the off and in the umpire’s opinion, the ball would have struck them in a normal batting position.

This is a major change from last season and was a point of contention with the two Captains and needs to be talked through.

The first point was that no other umpire had mentioned the change to them!

The second point was that they initially wanted it to be any ball down leg, i.e., the old interpretation.

A third point to consider is to note what actually is the batters normal batting position and we need to be aware that some batter’s normal stance is well to the leg side of the wicket (regardless of what guard they took).

An example of this, was a Coomera 1^st Grade player which John White and Leigh umpired on Sat 18 Dec. He took middle guard but then took up his

normal stance so far to the leg that the rear of his boots were adjacent to the leg side Return crease. His trigger movement then bought him back to in front of the wicket.

The significance of this is that a batter may move to the off side, causing the ball to go down leg, but a wide would not be called if we judged that the ball would have hit their pads if they didn’t move.

Just be consistent and definitely worth pointing out this possibility to the Captains before the game.

• Finally, the Playing Conditions deal the situation where the batter attempts to play or aborts a reverse sweep or switch hit. If you believe this occurred and the ball goes down leg, it now has to pass the Off Side Wide Line on the leg side to be called a wide.

We hope that this has explained how to handle wides and we strongly encourage you to have a good read of the appropriate Playing Conditions and then discuss them with the Captains pre-game. Our hope is that we all give the same advice and don’t confuse the players with different variations!

How many short-pitched balls in an over?

Another point that gave concern was that both Captains in the above 2^nd Grade game were convinced that they were only allowed one short pitched ball per over and that no umpire had mentioned anything different when discussing the Playing Conditions. They went with the two per over and at the end of the game, the umpire pointed out to them, Part D – One Day Playing Conditions Law 21 No Ball, which says, ‘A bowler shall be allowed two fast short pitched deliveries per over’.

This Playing Condition compliments Part B – Competition General Playing Conditions, Law 21 No ball which also says, ‘A bowler shall be allowed two fast short pitched deliveries per over’. This General Playing Condition allows 1^st and 2^nd Grade Two Day games to have the two short pitched balls per over.

Please be aware of this change from last season’s Playing Conditions.

Full pitched ball – How is the waist defined?

Great question from Matt Rimmer to Bob Myatt regarding full pitched balls (beamers) and how is the waist defined.

We know that Law 41.7 Bowling of dangerous and unfair non-pitching delivers at 41.71 states,

‘Any delivery, which passes or would have passed, without pitching, above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is unfair. Whenever such a delivery is bowled the umpire shall call and signal No ball.’

Annex A.6 .7 tells us that, ‘For the purposes of these laws, waist height is defined as the point at which the top of the batsman’s trousers would conventionally be when he/she is standing upright at the popping crease.’

Comment: As to what conventionally is, or how can you tell were the top of the trousers is, if the shirt is not tucked in, is up to the umpire’s best judgement.

Teaser of the day

Pat Carty asks this one and it has stumped the Training team.

‘What is the only situation where the fielding team can change the field following a free hit being awarded? The kicker is that the original batter is still on strike.’

If you believe you know the answer, just email it to Leigh on ehy5641@live.com.au and if you can, include a reference.

If you have a teaser you want to challenge your colleagues with, just let either Michael or Leigh know and we will include it in the Musings

U14 Carnival

A big thank you to all who umpired at the U14 Carnival at TSS. The carnival went well with all performing admirably. A special thank you to Les Garraway for being the Convenor, much appreciated.

QLD Premier Grade – Breach of Code of Behaviour Report Forms

Matthew Skinner, Umpire Coordinator, QLD Cricket has advised that if any of our umpires are appointed to stand in Premier Grade matches, that all reports for disciplinary matters (Code of Conduct – Behaviour issues), are now to be reported online. The form hasn’t changed, just it is now on line.

Match availability 2022. Well, the last games of the year have come and gone, so we are all off for a break until the next round commences on Sat 08 Jan 22. Can we remind you to please update your match availability on MyCricket for the new year. We know that this get forgotten over the break, so we suggest that you get it done now

Yours in umpiring and may all your snicks be loud

Your Training and Selections Committees

Pat Carty, Michael Guy and Leigh Buckingham