Umpiring for dummies
I have thought I should move the focus of this blog to my new and exciting and terrifying hobby; umpiring cricket. So instead of thinking about work, and my poor progress on studies, I can talk about cricket games and the experience of umpiring. I will also comment on my life and how Belgatherial, Savvy_Satori and James_Chocolate are doing.
But old habits die hard, so I will update on them; Belgatherial is working hard although today is Friday and it is usually her day off. Savvy_Satori has finished a term at school and is tired after a full week. Luckily he has two weeks of holiday. Mr Chocolate seems to be well and I hope to be able to talk to him this weekend. As for me, well, I am chasing up job possibilities, and sent a polite message to the case officer for our NZ Residency. The earliest she can make a decision is on the 29th September, but I don't know what she thinks of the problems we are having getting Savvy's police clearances. I sent the message and got an auto-reply stating she was on leave until the 12 October, which means she won't respond till after that. It is frustrating; so much hangs on us getting residence. We have to make quite different plans if we are turned down or told to wait.
Anyway, cricket umpiring. I had to study a weighty tome which explained all the rules and gave examples, including diagrams and photos, to explain difficult points. The test though was quite different, including a series of questions such as this one from the Out/Not Out section;
The ball deflects off the striker's bat, onto his helmet, and is caught by second slip.
Out or Not Out?
The striker plays the ball into the covers where is is fielded. As the ball is being relayed back to the bowler, it is thrown over the head of a fielder. In setting off for a run, the striker slips and breaks the wicket with his foot.
Out or Not Out.
The dead ball was also tricky;
The bowler breaks the bowler's end wicket while delivering the ball.
Is it Automatically Dead, does an umpire Call and Signal Dead Ball, or is the ball Not Dead?
It was quite a test of studying and learning, and I am not sure that I am 100% happy with it. Still I passed.
The Dunedin umpires' and scorers' association have given me two shirts, a blue one for limited over games and a white one for time games, as well as a blue jacket. I took a large version of the jacket so that I could wear jerseys underneath in the cold weather we have here. I will be given a white coat at some stage, and we should be given hats. It occured to me that this is the first time I have been given clothes for 'work'. I will have to supply my own shoes and trousers, but hey I don't mind a jacket and a couple of shirts that advertise the Dunedin Casino.
There about 14 umpires in the association, and Dunedin has seven clubs that play senior club grade cricket. It is unlikely that they will all have first grade cricket every weekend, but basically there is a need for eight senior umpires every weekend, but thenin addition there are second grade teams and of course Otago region may have games and then there are the age-representative games such as the Under 19s, the Under 17s and so on. We get paid a small amount of money, $40, but it is effectively voluntary and quite a chore for a Saturday, and so not all are able to umpire at any given weekend. In addition, Dunedin should also supply umpires for the games in Oamaru, Timaru, Alexander, Queenstown and Cromwell. Those towns are two to four hours drive away which means a day umpiring is a long day.
Basically it looks like I can get as much umpiring done as I like.
By all accounts, other regions in NZ have more problems getting umpires, and so if we have to take a job elsewhere I am sure to be welcome.
Next time I will talk about equipment.
But old habits die hard, so I will update on them; Belgatherial is working hard although today is Friday and it is usually her day off. Savvy_Satori has finished a term at school and is tired after a full week. Luckily he has two weeks of holiday. Mr Chocolate seems to be well and I hope to be able to talk to him this weekend. As for me, well, I am chasing up job possibilities, and sent a polite message to the case officer for our NZ Residency. The earliest she can make a decision is on the 29th September, but I don't know what she thinks of the problems we are having getting Savvy's police clearances. I sent the message and got an auto-reply stating she was on leave until the 12 October, which means she won't respond till after that. It is frustrating; so much hangs on us getting residence. We have to make quite different plans if we are turned down or told to wait.
Anyway, cricket umpiring. I had to study a weighty tome which explained all the rules and gave examples, including diagrams and photos, to explain difficult points. The test though was quite different, including a series of questions such as this one from the Out/Not Out section;
The ball deflects off the striker's bat, onto his helmet, and is caught by second slip.
Out or Not Out?
The striker plays the ball into the covers where is is fielded. As the ball is being relayed back to the bowler, it is thrown over the head of a fielder. In setting off for a run, the striker slips and breaks the wicket with his foot.
Out or Not Out.
The dead ball was also tricky;
The bowler breaks the bowler's end wicket while delivering the ball.
Is it Automatically Dead, does an umpire Call and Signal Dead Ball, or is the ball Not Dead?
It was quite a test of studying and learning, and I am not sure that I am 100% happy with it. Still I passed.
The Dunedin umpires' and scorers' association have given me two shirts, a blue one for limited over games and a white one for time games, as well as a blue jacket. I took a large version of the jacket so that I could wear jerseys underneath in the cold weather we have here. I will be given a white coat at some stage, and we should be given hats. It occured to me that this is the first time I have been given clothes for 'work'. I will have to supply my own shoes and trousers, but hey I don't mind a jacket and a couple of shirts that advertise the Dunedin Casino.
There about 14 umpires in the association, and Dunedin has seven clubs that play senior club grade cricket. It is unlikely that they will all have first grade cricket every weekend, but basically there is a need for eight senior umpires every weekend, but thenin addition there are second grade teams and of course Otago region may have games and then there are the age-representative games such as the Under 19s, the Under 17s and so on. We get paid a small amount of money, $40, but it is effectively voluntary and quite a chore for a Saturday, and so not all are able to umpire at any given weekend. In addition, Dunedin should also supply umpires for the games in Oamaru, Timaru, Alexander, Queenstown and Cromwell. Those towns are two to four hours drive away which means a day umpiring is a long day.
Basically it looks like I can get as much umpiring done as I like.
By all accounts, other regions in NZ have more problems getting umpires, and so if we have to take a job elsewhere I am sure to be welcome.
Next time I will talk about equipment.