Christmas has come and gone
Christmas has come and gone and your Training Committee hope that you are having a wonderful time over the festive season and are enjoying the mid-season break.

Vale Shane Maxwell – Umpire 64
It was with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of Shane Maxwell. Our thoughts go out to his family.

No ball/Dead Ball
At our Nov meeting, the Training Committee asked a question and the provided answer led to a good robust discussion and a couple of next day phone calls. The provided answer sounded counter intuitive so we said we would look it up.

A confession first; I misread the question which threw a couple of people off who asked
which wicket the bails fell off. I said that the question didn’t specify; but it did. Oops. Anyway, the question should have been;

‘In delivering the ball a spinner oversteps the popping crease. The umpire immediately calls and signals No ball; however, before the ball reaches the striker, a strong gust of wind removes the bails from the striker’s end wicket. The ball is subsequently hit through the
covers for four. What happens now?’

The provided answer was that the bowler’s end umpire shall call and signal No ball at the instant of the delivery. Either umpire shall immediately call and signal Dead ball when the bails fall from the striker’s wicket and disallow the boundary. The bowler’s end umpire shall revoke the No ball. The ball shall not count as one of the over.
The discussions centred around why should the batter be disadvantaged by having either the No ball revoked or the boundary disallowed.

The boundary is the easy one to discuss. Once the ball is called Dead, nothing that happens after that is of consequence. As to the No ball being revoke, the answer refers us to

Laws 20.4.2.4 & 21.12. Law 20.4.2.4 just tells us that if one or both bails fall off the striker’s wicket before they have had a chance to play it, either umpire shall call Dead ball. Law 21.12 directs that an umpire shall revoke a call of No ball if Dead ball is called under a number of circumstances; of which Law 20.4.2.4 is one of. So, it is just a law of the game.
As an aside, I was talking to one of our members who said that he was getting quite stressed as he didn’t know the answer. Please reduce your stress levels as only a handful of umpires knew it (I didn’t and I even got the question wrong!) and it is a very technical law. But we have now gained a new understanding of the Laws of Cricket, and that is a good positive thing to take away.

Short run – Who makes the final signal to Scorers?
In line with our last comment about continual learning and new understandings of the Laws of Cricket, here is a new one for me. On re-reading Law 2.131.3, I confirmed that a Short run is to be signalled once the ball is dead. Nothing new here, but then I read Law 2.13.1.4 which states:
‘All the signals in 2.13.1.3 are to be made by the bowler’s end umpire except that for Short run, which is to be signalled by the umpire at the end where short running occurs. However, the bowler’s end umpire shall be responsible both for the final signal of Short run to the scorers and, if more than one run is short, for informing them as to the number of runs to be recorded.’

I have never, as the bowler’s end umpire given the final signal for a Short run called by my colleague. There you go, something new learnt. Having said that, unless there are more than one short run, I can see both umpires signalling Short run at the same time confusing the Scorers. Your thoughts?

Two-day games – Playing Conditions
Div 1 and 2 have now had their first two-day game so it is timely to discuss a couple of the Playing Conditions (PC) to ensure that we are all of the same understanding. A couple of the more obvious differences to the one-day game are:
• No strict Wides
• No Power Plays
• No free hits
Some particular PC to two-day are:
• Wides as per Laws of Cricket
• No maximum number of overs that a bowler can bowl
• No compulsory close, meaning that the side batting first can bat for both days … if they can.
We ask that you pay particular attention to the difference between the minimum number of overs to be bowled each day and the close of play. A minimum number of 80 overs has to be bowled each day and play has to go onto 5.35PM, whichever is the later. This creates the following possible scenarios:
• Scenario 1. If by 5.35PM less than the 80 overs have been bowled, play continues until 80 are bowled
• Scenario 2. If the minimum overs are bowled before 5.35PM, then play continues until 5.35PM.
Notes:
o As always, three overs are deducted from the minimum 80 overs for a change of innings.
o If there are delays in play, take note of the time (therefore overs) lost as this may come into play for slow over rate penalties if due to weather/ground/light play has to be suspended and Scenario 1 is in play.
Another subtle difference from previous seasons PC, is that now, if there are more than 10 minutes of play left and an innings ends then the team batting next has to go out and bat. The extreme example is, an innings ends at 5.24PM, then the side batting next has to go out and face a minimum of one minute of play. This differs from previous seasons where if there is between 30 and 10 minutes left to play, then the side batting next could decline to bat and the day was at an end.
Speaking of new laws… How is everyone coping with the new caught law which now sees the incoming batter face the next ball (unless it is the end of the over)? From our observations, the players are across it and it has been well accepted.

Australia/New Zealand Police Championships 13 – 18 Nov 22
A well done to those who umpired the Australia/New Zealand Police Championships.

TSS Carnival
Congratulations are also needed for those members who umpired the recent carnival held at TSS. Well done to all.

First Grade Umpire recognition
As part of its desire to encourage umpires to move up through the ranks, your Executive has completed its aim of providing numbered field shirts to those who have umpired in First Grade.
Complementing this is a permanent reminder in the form of a shield displaying those members. We know that this work has been a personal quest for Michael Guy, so thank you for your efforts.

2023 availability
A reminder as we march towards the new year; please make sure that you have updated your availability for 2023. . Just a reminder, Div 1 and 2 start the new year with a two-day game over the weekend of 7 & 8 Jan. Div 3 start on 14 Jan. Also, those who want to umpire juniors, the second half of the season starts with a two-day
match over the period 21 & 28 Jan.
A further reminder for Div 1 umpires; Rnd 18 is on the weekend of 11 & 12 Mar 23.
Soft signals
We should always be striving to do our best, to learn and to get all of our decisions right. One way we can help in this quest is to support our fellow umpire/scorers by the use of soft signals. Let’s have a look at these soft signals:
• Bowler’s end umpire
o Extras about to be signalled. While the ball is in play, an arm is held down beside the body with the hand at right angles. This indicates to the Scorers that an
extra is about to be signalled and helps prevent the Scorers from scoring a run and then having to correct once the wide/bye/Leg bye is eventually signalled.
• Square Leg
o Tapping of hands. Indicates that the ball hit the bat and not the pads.
o Tapping of leg. Indicates that the ball hit the pad and not the pads.
o Crossing of arms. Indicates that the ball missed both bat and pads.
Note: There is always a bit of controversy about when or more particular should the above three soft signals be given. Rule of thumb is; if there is an appeal, do not signal. The thinking is that if an appeal for caught behind is made, and the Bowler’s end umpire says not out, it is a bad look if you are tapping your hands.
o Turning around or shrugging. A cheekier one used when the Square Leg has no idea what happened and the Bowler’s end umpire is on their own.
o Tapping the shoulder. Used in conjunction with a hand signal showing that it was the first or second short pitched ball over the shoulder (within the over), BUT not above the head.
o Tapping the head. Indicates that the Square Leg umpire believes that the short pitch ball went over the head of the batter standing in their normal guard position.
o Ball was caught. Cupped hands moving upwards.
o Ball didn’t carry or was dropped. Flattened hands pushing downwards (or a sign that the ball clearly bounced).
o Three, two, one to go.
–Hand across waist
–Two fingers held facing up around shoulder height
–One finger held facing down
Note: Remember to ‘reset’ after a wicket, extra or other incident. Some members use a clenched fist to signal six to go. Why the up and down positioning … it is designed to reduce confusion as to whether there are two or one balls to be bowled. Also remember to do this on the side of the body facing the Bowler’s end
umpire so they can see it. Those one percenters.
There are a number of variations to these soft signals, which is why we ask that the umpires have their pre-match talk about PC and other stuff, such as which soft
signals are going to be used. A lot of umpires are now holding the two/one to go signal until the bowler starts their run it. This is to provide situational awareness to the batters, fielders and fielding Captain. A simple gesture, but it is a match management function.
These soft signals and team work are raised as they are those one percenters that differentiate the better umpires from the rest. They are striving to help their fellow umpire in those tricky situations, such as when the ball has gone down leg and the Bowler’s end umpire is not sure
amongst the flurry of arms/bat and pads, if that noise was bat or pad. A quick glance to Square Leg can confirm an initial thought.
Of course, it is the Bowler’s end umpire’s decision, so if they choose not to accept your signal, so be it!
Can you think of any other soft signals that we use?

Test umpires not doing what we ask you to do
A valid point raised by Bob as we compiled this edition of Musings was, ‘Interesting observations when being a couch potato on boxing day. Test match umpires not attempting to get to the line and going to the wrong side at the non-striker’s end. Along with the numerous ICC playing conditions that differ from MCC Laws. Soft signals different to what we are told and in the main what we practise’.
I do recall Simon Taufel saying many years ago, that at the Elite level, the umpires are instructed to go to the Third Umpire ever time, even if the decision is clear. This was to allow the broadcaster to show off their technology and of course to allow advertising to be seen. Now that we have raised DRS, is there any other technology that you would like introduced?

Yours in umpiring and may all your snicks be loud,
Your Training and Selections Committees,
Bob Myatt, Pat Carty, Michael Guy and Leigh Buckingham.