Cricket Conference: Umpiring in Cricket Leinster
On 1st October there will be a day-long Open Conference hosted by Cricket Leinster at which a wide range of matters relating to the playing and administration of cricket in Leinster will be discussed. Over the next two months issues that will be raised at the conference will be first outlined on the Cricket Leinster website so that people can start thinking about them in advance.
The way this will work is that a short article about a particular topic will be put up on the Cricket Leinster website. An individual, club or association / section can provide feedback either by using the Comments section or by sending a submission directly to
cricketleinster@gmail.com. The feedback will be incorporated into a short report which will be published before the end of the season and which can form the basis for the discussions at the Conference.
The first issue, which was the subject of some heated debate earlier in the season, is how to manage matches where there are no official umpires present. Two initial assumptions are made - that it is desirable that there should be neutral umpires for all competitive matches under the aegis of Cricket Leinster and that there is little prospect in the near future that there will be sufficient official umpires from the Leinster Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association to cover all matches. The challenge facing Cricket Leinster is how to bridge the gap. What follows are headings of possible approaches [these are not mutually exclusive or exhaustive of the possible approaches]. Feedback is invited on how one might go about creating the structure [incentives, penalties, processes, procedures and regulations] that will bring us closer to the objective of ensuring that all matches are properly managed.
Different Options
Use of Official Umpires
[a] increase number of official [LCUSA] umpires. This of course can happen regardless of what other options are considered. The question is how best to go about increasing numbers.
allocation of umpires, change the approach to the allocation of umpires e.g. instead of sending umpires to the top 6 leagues in OC drop this to four and target matches where there have been reports of previous problems with particular teams,
[c] appoint a single umpire to a match [conditions could apply regarding length of match] perhaps combining with an agreed senior person [not a player on team] from home club to do square leg for the whole match.
Volunteer Umpires
[d] recruit volunteer umpires from former players who will do matches [with or without official umpires] below certain grade.
Clubs’ Responsibility
[f] clubs to bring 12th player to every match without official umpires [this was an approach that was tried before]
[g] games cannot proceed without neutral umpires and it is the responsibility of home clubs to ensure that umpires are available either through voluntary arrangements with other clubs [swop player umpires] or by engaging official umpires through the LCUSA. Match does not go ahead without umpires and game forfeit if umpires not provided.
Officials and LCU
[h] create a new category of Match Official. A Match Referee to be appointed to matches without umpires to observe and report in the event of any issues arising. Arranged through LCUSA and paid expenses in same manner.
reduce the number of leagues. LCU only runs leagues where it has enough umpires. The option of organising friendlies for the rest.
Any feedback on this is welcome and if there are suggestions for particualr topics that might be raised at the Open Conference on 1st October please submit these also as outlined above.