Association of Cricket Officials Issue 32 | Page 9
A Day in the Life of a
D Grade Umpire
Here, we look at Second XI cricket – an ambition for many aspiring
umpires with the chance to umpire top-level cricket, usually
alongside a professional umpire. Matthew French was awarded
the D Grade for this season and shares his first experiences with us.
My first D Grade appointment was Sussex Second XI vs Kent
Second XI at the end of May, which I was excited about as not
only was it at the County Ground, Hove, but as a Kentish man by
birth, it was nice to officiate a match involving them. The game itself was not challenging regarding decision making.
It was a good pitch and both sides made good starts in their
first innings, so a draw was always going to be the most likely
result.
However, my first experience of Second XI championship cricket
was between MCC Young Cricketers and Worcestershire Second
XI at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. This came earlier than
expected, as a replacement umpire. There were, however, some unusual issues that we needed to
deal with. On day one we had to issue a Level 1 offence under
Law 42 for a batsman showing dissent. We arrived on day two
to find that water had got under the covers due to overnight
rain, right on a length at one end. This meant we couldn’t
commence play until midday. We also had to stop play early
that day as the setting sun was shining in the batsmen’s eyes,
making visibility difficult. We also dealt with a replacement
wicketkeeper as the original ‘keeper broke his finger on day one.
I knew this would be a challenge as it took me out of my
comfort zone. To umpire a match at a higher level than you’ve
done before is a challenge, but usually your first experience
would be on a familiar ground with at least a few of the players
known to you. So, for me to have to go away for four days and
umpire two unfamiliar teams in an unfamiliar environment made
me feel very apprehensive, all be it with excitement.
I have umpired a few multi-day games before, as I was lucky
enough to do a Second XI friendly at the end of last season, so
the concept of playing for three days was not as alien to me as
it might have been.
My thoughts before the match regarding the challenges were
the same as any match when moving up a level; the players
would test me, and I would need to be aware of this. I found as
the match went on my confidence grew and the players became
more willing to approach me and I slowly built a rapport and
gained their trust.
The most challenging thing I found with the Playing Conditions
was keeping tabs with the over rate, whereas in recreational
cricket with one innings in one day it is very simple. Having to
deal with different sessions, days and innings made it much
more complex, and although it is seen as the responsibility of
the First Class umpire to keep track of this, I felt I needed to
assist in this.
Overall, my first experience of a Second XI County
Championship match was great. I must give thanks to my
colleague Ian Ramage who kept me involved in everything, gave
me excellent feedback and took time out to explain matters
regarding regulations etc. The scorers Su Klyne and Roger Wilks
were great too and we all worked well together, allowing the
game to run smoothly.
Officials team for the match (L to R): Roger Wilks, Su Klyne, Ian Ramage and Matthew French.
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