White ball cricket re-appears!
We were just discussing our return to two-day cricket and...whoosh! it's gone for a few weeks and we are back with white balls and coloured clothing again.
So as we sat around the fireside, we thought "perhaps it's timely to review a couple of things that make one day cricket 'special'".
1. White Balls and Wide Balls
Consistency is the key.
A wide is any ball that passes wide of the batter such that it cannot be hit by the bat using a normal cricket stroke - Law 22.1.2 - and that definition is refined further in one-day cricket to be any ball that passes
a. wide of the wide ball guidelines at their intersection with the popping crease on the off side; or
b. wide and clear of the striker's pads and leg stump; however
c. it is not a wide if it passes on the leg side within the protected area guideline, projected to the popping crease.
Condition c above calls for concentration and consistency from umpires. It is also possible that captains do not understand the VSDCA Rule, and so umpires should add this to the list of items to clarify at the toss.
2. White Balls and the Switch Hit
Umpires Coach Brian Benny Goodman made the switch from footy to mainly cricket a couple of years ago, and while he's comfortable with the switch, not every umpire is! To help understand how we deal with this strangely white ball phenomenon, Brian has produced Guidance for Umpires. It is a clear explanation of what can be a tricky event and we commend it to all VSDCA umpires.
PS: There are other switches, of course. Here's an old one from US Vaudeville star Billy Murray (no relation), just for a laugh.
One final matter applicable to all matches - please be on time (this means 60 minutes before the scheduled commencement time) for your appointments, and if matters beyond your control are causing you to be late (later than 45 minutes before scheduled commencement time), contact your partner.
On the other hand, should your partner advise she/ he is running late, please wait until the latest possible moment (30 minutes before scheduled commencement time) before commencing any pre-match activities such as setting up stumps, ground inspection etc. It is better to wait for your partner and then act as a team. This instils confidence in the players. Acting as a "team of one" does not.
A fine weekend is forecast, so let's go out there, do our best, and have fun!
Neill Murray
VSDCA Appointment Manager
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