Association of Cricket Officials Issue 28 | Page 4

Beyond the Boundary
‘The gloves are off!’ has always been the verbal hors
d'oeuvre for the tasty moments of conflict that usually
follow. Now, this year – the first ever in 250 – the
opposite is to come true. The gloves are ON! For all the
down-trodden, frustrated, abused, intimidated,
shouted-at, cold-shouldered, sworn-at umpires
nationwide, the time for payback is near, and we shall
have our justice!
OK, yes, this is rather over the top, but to give weight to
it, there is no-one out there who will not feel some warm
glow at the prospect of mutuality. ‘I shall do unto you as
you have done unto me, but in a refined and official
manner of course.’ At the same time though, many of us
will feel a tangible nervousness. In decades past, from
school days on, we were taught the moral fortitude of
acceptance of the decision no matter how wrong it
seemed. That is now old money. From next season, the
tables are turned and the spotlight is on us, and we will be
asked to match our expertise by applying the Laws in
summary judgement of a player’s response.
Thinking of this, now ask yourself, what percentage of
such moments can you remember – in detail – because,
now, that detail will be significant as it becomes
'evidential' as part of the necessary disciplinary report
substantiating your action on any incident from Level 1 to
Level 4. We have all been paired with colleagues who, in
that lonely corner of the bar while we sat concocting the
match report, softly uttered that stone-walling phrase, ‘I
don’t think we need a pink sheet for that, do you?’, and so
another incident that should have been reported joined
the thousands