Country vs Island

I'll be umpiring Otago Country vs Green Island on Saturday, which should be interesting. I don't know if this is Otago Country's first game in the Dunedin league, since I did not see or hear of them playing last weekend. Still, I understand that a number of the players used to play in the Dunedin league so they should be familiar with the situation. The game will be played at Sunnyvale; I don't know if that will be on the artifical or the real grass. I can't actually remember if there is an artificial at Sunnyvale.

Then on Sunday I may umpire a woman's game; Aotea Electric Otago/Southland Womens Competition, and it seems it is a 40 over game starting at 11.30am. I put my hand up when it was offered, but have not heard back. This would hit one of my goals; umpiring different types of cricket.

Should be interesting.

UGCC vs Taieri

Curiously, the Taieri side decided that they would like to bowl, and so they put University Grange under the cosh early on. Taieri opened with Brad Frost and Callum Thompson who managed to contain runs but only managed to pick up one wicket. It was a pretty good day too, with the sun shining, and although the temperatures would have made many quail, sunshine and still air and 15 degree C is great for Dunedin, and especially for Ocean Grove ground which can be freezing!
The we had another Callum bowling, this time Callum Johnson, a dyed blond chap who normally plays in Southland but was looking for the greater professionalism and competence of Otago Cricket. He was variable, and even though I was at square leg, I could see he was left and right and up and down. Still, he managed ok, but will be hit around as better players come in later in the season. Ben Kidston, a name to remember as he is the captain of Taieri, bowled well and in fact bowled his ten overs consecutively (though there was a drinks break) and picked up a couple of wickets. Then a spin bowler did ok and then one rubbish bowler undid all the good work of the others by being bashed around and having a front-foot no-ball, which meant a free hit.

Still, the University Grange lost wickets regularly and were all out for the slightly low score of 168. For a 50-over game, that is not competitive.

In the first over, Taieri were clearly over-awed by speed, and lost a wicket. Then they struggled to put on any runs, but one of the batsmen, despite needing a runner, managed to last out quite well, though he will have a few bruises in the morning! There was another wicket in the 7th over, but it seemed to be going well and solidly, even though perhaps rather slowly. But Patel, who I'd last seen bowling in 2nd grade, bowled really well and picked up five wickets. He had two LBWs while I was bowling, and they were plumb in front, so though I know the Taieri players looked unhappy, they were pretty obvious decisions.
And so the game wound up. Some good play by the bowlers. A good day of weather, and enjoyable. I had problems with one decision, in which I called a deadball when a player tripped over at the wicket, but otherwise fine.

Taieri vs University Grange

My first umpiring at the senior grade is tomorrow, Saturday 2nd October. Originally the game was to be played at Taieri at Memorial Park, but a burst water main means a flooding in the outfield. So instead I will be umpiring at Ocean Grove, which is notorious as the coldest ground in Dunedin. It is located here;

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I do love the name "Tomahawk Drive"; how did it get that name?
Anyway, last year University Grange were about the best team, and I got on pretty well with them. Perhaps it is because they were good and young, they just got on and played the game.

Still, I suspect I will get quite a few games this summer as we seem to have one less umpire which is a problem.

Game 1

My first game of the 2010/2011 season and it was not too bad. On the plus side, I was authoritative with my voice and I think that leads to confidence. I used my second ball counter well and got in to a routine with one counter in my left hand and the other in my right. I liked the old counter which has the little levers to push down because I could physically feel the count.

Errors; I got the no-balls right, though a few close ones could have gone either way. My first error was when I did not see a ball that hit a guy's foot, bounced up and then hit his helmet. I saw it as a full toss that was at the body and called it as a no-ball, which it wasn't. Or it was, but at the foot not the body.
My second error was in positioning. I'd just had the thought that my positioning was pretty good, when a ball was hit straight up and on the off side, so I sprinted to that side to see the catch. I glanced up to see that I had the trajectory wrong and I was almost under the ball, so I ran back to my original position where I was able to see the catch being dropped. Would the guy have caught it if he did not have to look at me? Who knows.

All in all, an ok first game. But I need to spot things like full tosses and understand what is happening better.
Game 1 of 24.

Aussis School

The first game of the season. I have my black trousers, I have my long johns on, I have my hat, my sunscreen, the over counter, the ball counter, notebook, jacket, shirt, tie.
A game between King's School Dunedin and Downlands College, Brisbane. So my first international!
A full report later.

New Rules

The MCC rules for playing were given out to us yesterday, and there were a couple of changes. Most are unlikely to influence club cricket or the level of cricket that I umpire, but one rule is that the bowler cannot go over an imaginary line that runs from middle stump to middle stump. Only a few bowlers can even do this, but it is one to watch for.

I hope to be able to umpire quite a bit this summer, and have my gear ready. I was even given an old over counter that my dad used to use. And my sons gave me some bowler's markers which I must put my name on.

Goals

We had the New Zealand Cricket Umpires and Scorers' Association Conference yesterday, and I was very glad to go to it.
One suggestion is that we work out goals for the season, and so I think I will make a start on them. First I would like to get more varied umpiring and a good amount of umpiring, so I think my target should be four games per month, which would suggest 24 games in total. I also want to vary, and so if at least one game per month can be representative and/or outside Dunedin then that would be good. So let's say six representative games and three games outside Dunedin. This is not very much, but it does imply driving to Queenstown or to Oamaru or even Southland...

At the end of the year I should also aim to take an exam so that I can qualify at a higher level. An exam implies studying and so I ought to read through the umpires' handbook. I am not sure what level I am, and so I had better check with JH and the DCA. Still, at the end of the season I ought to be able to take the exam for the next level.

In terms of onfield activity, I ought to try to make sure I am more precise, confident and clear. I should also note after the games events and so on, with the purpose of ensuring greater familiarity with teams and players so that I can call them by name and identify players, which will help discipline.
There is the adage to remember; plan, prepare, perform.

So I need to keep a journal of the games that I umpire.

In summary; 24 games, six representative, three outside Dunedin, the higher exam, notes and organisation.