Beyond the Boundary
Thinking about the current topics, I really wasn't going to
moan, but then a third item flagged 'annoyance' and so here
goes. They are all to do with us not having the status we
need and being frustrated by the limits this imposes on our
ability to progress.
To start with a very close one, my club now has a superb new
pavilion (partly enabled by multi-thousands from the ECB,
for which grateful thanks are extended) and so when using
the officials’ room for the first time recently, I was sad to see
in it the reality replicated through village clubs across the
land – already half full of equipment, old advertising
materials and crumpled umpires’ coats thrown over chairs
and coat rails. Worse than that, no hooks, no table, no mirror.
Even worse than that, no respect for what we do and who
we are. This physical lack of care mirrors a general negative
stubbornness in clubs to search for, educate and promote
new umpires and scorers from the ranks of older players,
parents or supporters. We are naïve if we believe clubs will
eventually choose to become positive and active on our
behalf – they won't, and only league points deductions will
cure it. So we might as well get on with that.
The second aggravation came from a question by a 4th XI
umpire who asked what he should do when a delivery rolled
along the ground after pitching. My innocent enquiry as to
‘infrequency’ was torpedoed by his ‘three or four an over’,
and it was clear that the council-maintained ground was not
being, thus becoming a trial for officials and players alike,
and a likely health and safety issue. Clearly, there is a need
for a code covering the fitness of grounds and pitches.
Similarly, on standing with Peter White recently, he told me
the sad story of his Mitcham club that plays on Mitcham
Common and uses that legendary pub where John Smith
and his mates supped ale and wrote their interpretations of
the Laws in the 1950s; common land and pub under threat
(more in the next issue).
Lastly and most topical, ‘Ground, Weather and Light’. I do
not wish to moan about the guidelines, except that they are
over-winded and preaching to the converted. The same
'converted' assembly of members who know that Law 43
urges all of us to use our common sense which we mainly do
– as our old friend Gavin from Devon reminded us. The worry
here is that non-members, no matter how experienced, may
have a less-concerned ‘uninsured’ view of the state of play,
thus creating doubts that should not be present.
Pierre Tartari
email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710
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