Association of Cricket Officials Issue 29 | Page 21

Su Klyne, Buckinghamshire ACO Answered by Nick Cousins, Head of ECB ACO Tea Time Debate An inaugural T20 tournament was held earlier this season involving four old boys’ teams from public schools. The final went along with no problems but the third/fourth match raised several questions for all readers of this magazine. The first innings concluded and the scoreboard was updated with the target for the second innings. There was only one scorer appointed for each game and no scoreboard operator was provided, although the scoreboard on the pitch where the third/fourth match was played had to be manually operated. With three overs to go, the target on the scoreboard was changed, increasing by seven runs. The game continued, with the team batting second losing. What Would You Have Done – As an Umpire or Scorer? Thank you to James Emmerson, who related a not-too dissimilar situation: In a regional T20 final a couple of years ago, at the start of the final over, the two scorers disagreed on the score. One umpire had a different score from them and the other umpire hadn't kept score. The batting side, who according to the scoreboard needed two to win, were told they needed five to win, and lost. The easy answer is to say that these examples demonstrate the need for qualified and competent scorers to be appointed to as many games as possible. It is difficult to provide a specific answer to questions of this nature without understanding more the context – particularly who specifically set the first target and who subsequently changed it/updated it and why? Disagreement over the score after the event should never arise (ie it is the responsibility of the captains/batsmen/ players to know themselves exactly what the score/situation is before getting to a last ball or a last over scenario – and at the very least clarifying at the time). If there is not a scorer available to update a manually operated board then the batting side should do it – if they do not, ar e they not culpable? For this reason, unless a clear mistake has been made in the scoring of the match (agreed by all parties), the score (and result) of any match should stand as agreed by the umpires and the scorers. If the scorers disagree, then the umpires must take a decision as they are ultimately responsible for the scoring of the game. One For the Record Books Thank you to Nick Hall who shared with us these two recent ‘records’. 1) In a Saracens Herts Senior Premier League (Championship Division) 50 overs match at Ampthill CC v Reed CC on 27 May, the score after one over was 27-0! Here is how the first over panned out: Ball 1: No ball, missed by the wicketkeeper, goes to boundary (2 for no ball, 4 no ball extras) – 6 scored Ball 2: Free hit – boundary – 6 scored Ball 3: No runs Ball 4: Boundary – 4 scored Ball 5: No ball – 2 scored Ball 6: Free hit – byes – 4 scored Ball 7: Wide ball – 1 scored Ball 8: No runs Ball 9: Leg byes – 4 scored. Ampthill went on to win the match by one wicket! 2) In two T20 Second XI matches played at Merchant Taylors’ School between MCC Young Cricketers and Worcestershire Second XI, of the 21 wickets that fell, seven were caught and bowled. If you have had any bizarre records occur in games you have umpired/scored or even just been watching, please share them with us via [email protected] email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710 21