Erasmus Named Umpire of the Year
It was announced in January that Marais Erasmus has won the David Shepherd Trophy for the ICC Umpire of the Year 2016.
The award is nominated by the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees as well as the Test playing captains, and he beats off strong competition for this award from colleagues Richard Illingworth, Bruce Oxenford and Richard Kettleborough.
Erasmus is the fifth umpire to win the award following Simon Taufel( 2004 – 2008), Aleem Dar( 2009 – 2011), Kumar Dharmasena( 2012) and Richard Kettleborough( 2013 – 2015).
ICC Women’ s World Cup Qualifiers Appointments
It was announced in January that four women had been appointed to the ICC Women’ s World Cup Qualifier 2017 in Sri Lanka – Kathy Cross( New Zealand), Claire Polosak( Australia), Jacqueline Williams( West Indies) and ECB ACO’ s very own Sue Redfern. The appointment is being seen as an opportunity for the four umpires to push their case for inclusion in the Women’ s World Cup itself. Prior to heading out to Colombo, Sue spoke to ICC about the appointment:‘ I’ m really excited and feel very privileged to have this opportunity, which will help me to continue to develop as an umpire and build on previous ICC appointments.
‘ I hope my selection for the tournament shows other women in England and across the world that there are more opportunities in cricket than just playing, and they should have the courage to follow their dreams. I’ m hugely grateful to both ICC and ECB for their continued support in helping me realise mine.
Reacting to the news, Erasmus said:‘ David Shepherd has been one of the role models for many aspiring umpires and to win the trophy named after him is something to be really proud of. It has been an excellent period of international cricket and I consider myself extremely fortunate to be part of it.
‘ I thank the match referees and the Test captains for voting me as the ICC Umpire of the Year 2016, but the fact is without the support, help and encouragement of my Playing Control Teams, this would not have been possible. As such, it is appropriate that I win this on behalf of all my fellow match officials.
‘ I would like to thank my wife Adele and my sons Chris and Geo for their support and sacrifices so that I can live the dream of umpiring at the world stage, as well as my ICC coach, Denis Burns, who during the past three years guided me to become the best possible umpire that I can be.’
ICC General Manager of Cricket, Geoff Allardice, congratulated Erasmus, saying:‘ The ICC is very fortunate to have such a strong team of umpires, and Marais has been deservedly rewarded for the steady improvement in his umpiring over the past few years. This recognition, voted by the match referees and the Test captains, shows the high regard in which Marais is held by those closely involved with the game.’
‘ Travelling to Sri Lanka will be a fabulous experience both on and off the field. It’ s a fantastic chance to stand with colleagues both male and female from around the globe, to learn different techniques and to gather knowledge.’
To read more about Sue’ s journey in Sri Lanka, see page 17.
Get The [ Test Match ] On
Commentator Mark Nicholas has raised the issue of rain delays frustrating games of cricket. He queried if there is‘ now a case for us to push the ICC to be more lenient about weather, because the regulation saying that you can’ t start in any form of rain, even little drops of rain, is surely too strict, too tight and too unforgiving for the spectators’. The former Australian captain Mark Taylor argued that the‘ umpires are always worried about the fairness of the game, trying to make sure that one side doesn’ t get a disadvantage from staying out or having to go back out in tough conditions’. However, he did concede that‘ we have to try and stay out there. If some side happens to get slightly disadvantaged that’ s sometimes the luck of the draw because people who are watching on TV or have come to the ground want to see as much cricket as possible’. Another former Australian captain, Ian Chappell, added:‘ I think common sense has to prevail. If it’ s a spot or two, no matter what the Law says, get the players out there and get them going. Then you have to make a judgement at what point do you stop, because the rain is having an effect on the pitch and could make the pitch dangerous. Those things have to be taken into consideration, but the overriding factor should be common sense.’
While the above applies to international cricket, it makes an interesting comparison to our own Get The Game On campaign which mirrors some of the suggestions made above.
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