Association of Cricket Officials Issue 28 | Page 18

By the Byes You versus Hawk-Eye We are pleased to announce the revival of the ‘You versus Hawk-Eye’ offer at the MCC Indoor Academy. The hour-long sessions, available for a maximum of six people, would usually cost £140. However, the MCC is offering our members a 30% discount, meaning you and your ECB ACO colleagues can experience Hawk-Eye for £100. The sessions consist of a ‘bowler’ making a number of LBW appeals that you, as the umpire, must give out or not out. For each decision you will be asked to document the process you have gone through to come to this decision. At the end of the session all the umpires will be taken to review their decisions using the Hawk-Eye software. The facility at Lord’s is the only one in the world where members of the public can use the Hawk-Eye software, so if you would like to take advantage of this fantastic offer please get in touch with John Overton ([email protected]) who will help facilitate your booking. Wagner Run Out Lou Rowan ECB ACO was saddened to hear that the former Australian Test umpire Lou Rowan has passed away at the age of 91. Rowan, who officiated in 25 Tests as well as the first ODI, was best known for his role in the 1971 Sydney Test match between Australia and England, in which Ray Illingworth, the England Test Captain at the time, ordered his team off the field in protest at the behaviour of the Australian crowd towards his players, including one spectator grabbing England bowler John Snow. Rowan told Illingworth that, if England didn’t resume play, they would forfeit the match. Illingworth subsequently led his team back on the field and finished the match. The Christchurch Test match between New Zealand and Bangladesh saw Neil Wagner given run out in unusual circumstances. The run out decision was sent to the third umpire, Marais Erasmus, who ruled that Wagner was out despite having grounded his bat beyond the crease before the Bengali wicketkeeper, Nurul Hasan, had disturbed the bails. Rather than run his bat in past the crease, Wagner had placed it in and it had subsequently lifted, at which point the wicketkeeper removed the bails. At this time, Wagner’s entire body was past the crease but totally airborne, with his feet not having touched the ground beyond the crease. In October 2010, MCC changed the Law relating to run outs to read ‘if a running batsman, having grounded some part of his foot behind the popping crease, continues running further towards the wicket at that end and beyond, then any subsequent total loss of contact with the ground of both his person and his bat during his continuing forward momentum shall not be interpreted as being out of his ground’. If Wagner had grounded his feet beyond the crease at any point before the bails were dislodged he would have been given not out. However, because he had not done so, Erasmus correctly ruled him run out and the New Zealand innings was subsequently ended. An unusual situation but great to see examples of the correct application of the Laws of Cricket by our international colleagues. Reflecting on the incident in his memoir, Rowan wrote: ‘I have no regrets for my part in the affair. I would act no differently in similar circumstances now, whether at club or international cricket level.’ An interesting scenario that we hope no ECB ACO members have experience of. 18 email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710 10,000th LBW Victim In the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth in December 2016, Hashim Amla entered a unique club. Halfway through the third day of the first Test, Nuwan Pradeep went up for an LBW appeal and the umpire dutifully raised his finger. It was later announced that records showed that this was the 10,000th time a batsman had been dismissed in that manner in Tests. The first batsman to be given out LBW being England’s Harry Jupe in 1876 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after being pinned in front by Australian bowler Tom Garrett.