Law 43 January, 2015 Graham Slater on a family “summer holiday” in southern Chile, cruising amongst the glaciers, with daughters, Jennifer (left) and Joanne (centre). (See “From the Editor”, page 4) In This “The Holiday Issue”: • From the Editor • …And the President • From the Desk of the Umpiring Manager • Interesting News Items from “Playing the Game” • Reflections on 2014 • The “Gentleman’s Law of Cricket” • T20 Cricket is Entertainment • The Crockett Shield Mission Continues • MUCC World Cup Breakfast and Easter 2015 VCA Umpires’ & Scorers’ Association Newsletter Vol. 21 No. 5, 2014-2015 season Page 1 Volume 21 Number 5 2014-2015 Page 2 Law 43 Magazine of the Victorian Cricket Association Umpires’ and Scorers’ Association Incorporated. Cricket Victoria is acknowledged for the printing of hard copies of this Newsletter. CONTENTS From the Editor……………………………………………… 4 Eton Maths Teacher for New MCC Laws Position………. 5 …. And the President……………………………………….. 6 From the Desk of the Umpiring Manager………………….. 7 No Need for Bouncers in the Game………………………. 7 Reflections on 2014……………………………………....…. 8 The “Gentleman’s Law of Cricket”…………………………. 9 T20 Cricket is Entertainment..……………………………...10 The Late Brian Johnston on Umpiring Technique………..10 Walk Off Regretted Thirty Years On..……………………...11 The Umpiring Character, Dickie Bird…..…………………..11 The Crockett Shield Mission Continues……………………12 Ajmal Concedes World Cup Attempt……………………….13 ‘Wearable’ Wrist Sensor Provides Accurate Data………...14 MUCC World Cup Breakfast & Easter 2015 Booking…….15 VCAUSA Calendar……………..…………………………….16 VCAUSA COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT PRESIDENT: GERRY SCHEMBRI VICE-PRESIDENT: ALAN MCCARTHY SECRETARY: DAN BOMFORD IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT & TREASURER: TREVOR FINLAYSON COMMITTEE MEMBERS: LUKE EDWARDS, JAN HOWARD & TONY VENTURA OTHER OFFICE HOLDERS AND CO-ORDINATORS BADGES & ACCESSORIES: GLENN CUMMING LAW 43 EDITOR: TREVOR FINLAYSON SOCIAL ORGANISER: JOHN COLLINS HISTORIAN: BILL ELLEMOR MISCELLANEOUS APPOINTMENTS: DARRELL HOLT CURRENT LIFE MEMBERS J.R. Collins (1976) W.H. Howieson (1979) K. Allday (1980) G.M. Thies (1981) G.J. Bugge (1987) D.N. Bomford (1989) C. Andrews (1990) R.C. Bailhache (1994) D.W. Holt (1995) N.J. Grant (1997) D.L. Byrne (2000) R.F. Francione (2001) L.J. King (2002) W.R. Ellemor (2003) P. Hooper (2005) A.L. Eldridge (2006) J.L. Collins (2010) J.A. Howard (2011) CORRESPONDENCE AND CONTRIBUTIONS: ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO THE SECRETARY DAN BOMFORD, PO BOX 2692, MOUNT WAVERLEY 3149 VCAUSA WEBSITE: http://vcausa.vic.cricket.com.au Volume 21 Number 5 2014-2015 Page 3 FROM THE EDITOR Following the festive season and the usual Christmas-New Year break from regular umpiring or scoring for many readers, I should like to offer you what I have called “The Holiday Issue.” You can see from the front-cover picture that at least one umpire took advantage of the break to, quite literally, “cool his heels,” while on a family holiday amidst the ever-receding glaciers of southern Chile. The cruise on the M/V Skorpios III departed from Puerto Natales, a town located 2,500 km south of Santiago, and covered 380 miles via most of the glaciers in the area, namely Amalia, El Brujo, Bernal and Herman, and those located in the area of Fiordo Calva. At the same time, it would appear from his protective jacket that he took the opportunity not only to keep out the cold but also to advertise cricket in a country where it is perhaps not yet played to any extent. One wonders if he was ever asked about the jacket? It was again the turn of President, Gerry Schembri, to write the The cruise route in southern Chile aboard M/V Skorpios III shared P/VP column which contains some mid-season thoughts, while a most interesting article entitled “Reflections on 2014” has been submitted by John Collins, following his short holiday in Singapore. The regular thought-provoking column from our Umpiring Manager is unfortunately missing from this issue. While I don’t believe that Richard had the excuse that he was on holidays, the amount of time spent away from his office on various CV commitments, restricted his time to “put pen to paper.” However, I have taken the opportunity to recycle a small section from his article in our first issue for this season, where he invited anyone who had an interesting experience from a cricket match to share, to come forward and tell colleagues about it. I added an editorial note inviting anyone to share such an experience via an article in Law 43. To date there has been just one offered and that was the tribute to Phillip Hughes published in the December issue which resulted from the input from Gerry Schembri and Sahan Weerasekera. There is another in this issue, entitled “T20 Cricket is Entertainment” from Alan McCarthy, which you should enjoy reading but I find it hard to believe that umpiring or scoring Premier Cricket which many of you do throughout the summer, can be so uninteresting that there are no other incidents worth reporting to your colleagues! So why not share some experiences? As an example, I offer you “The Gentleman’s Law of Cricket.” ln the ongoing column for this season, “The Crockett Shield Mission Continues,” you can read some playing statistics from the extensive history of this event. All interested in participating in the Crockett Shield match itself, are reminded via the Calendar that a second social cricket match, against The 49ers, is planned for Sunday, 22nd February, and regular practice sessions will Volume 21 Number 5 2014-2015 Page 4 commence at Xavier College, 135 Barkers Road, Kew, on Wednesday, 25th February. For those interested in attending any part of the Easter event, you should note that the Committee of Management has extended the deadline for an “Early-Bird” discount to 20th February, but the discount is now only 5% rather than the original 10%. During my own holidays I have enjoyed reading a few interesting items from the regular cricket newsletter, Playing the Game, so I thought to share some of these with you throughout this issue. Finally, I should like to draw your attention to the MUCC Business Breakfast for which the VCAUSA is subsidising attendance by members and which should be most enjoyable. (See page 15.) Trevor Finlayson ------------------------------------------------------ ETON MATHS TEACHER SELECTED FOR NEW MCC LAWS POSITION The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has appointed Mark Williams, a mathematics teacher at Eton and an active umpire at Premier League level in south-east England, to take up the newly created ‘Laws of Cricket Advisor’ position it advertised four months ago. The MCC said in August that the need for the new role was identified as part of its ‘Cricket Strategy’ review which found in part that the Club should be more proactive in promoting and guarding the Laws and the philosophy contained in them. Williams, who turns 60 next month, played one first-class game for Cambridge University whilst studying there in 1976, and went on to represent Shropshire at Minor Counties level in the 1980s. Since taking up umpiring around the turn of the century, he has stood in matches in the Minor Counties, County Second XI Championship, and Middlesex Premier League competitions, as well as in county-level women’s matches, the national club tournament, plus a wide range of other fixtures. The MCC has indicated that a key part of William’s work will be to oversee the production and revision of a range of on-line, umpire, educational materials. Such output will be made available to match officials from all levels of the game around the world and be linked to an accompanying accreditation system. Details of the latter system have not yet been released. In addition he will liaise with other MCC groups “to investigate commercial opportunities that may exist in relation to the Club’s ownership of the Laws, assisting with the production of animations on the Laws of Cricket, and to search for illegal cricket equipment being sold around the world.” Williams will also handle all Laws-related administration, including supporting the Club’s Laws sub- committee, answer Laws queries sent to the Club, coordinate research projects, write topical Laws-related articles for the Lord’s website, and the annual summary of the Laws sub-committee’s work for the MCC's Annual Report. (from Playing the Game, No. 1485-7182, 17th December, 2014) ----------------------------------------------------- Volume 21 Number 5 2014-2015 Page 5 … AND THE PRESIDENT Happy New Year to all members and readers of this first issue of Law 43 for 2015. It is hard to believe that the Boxing Day Test is done and dusted, the premier cricket season is already more than half completed and finals are just around the corner. But wait, the ICC Cricket World Cup is scheduled to start on Saturday, 14th February, 2015 with a total of 49 One-Day matches scheduled and culminating in the final at the MCG on Sunday, 29th March, 2015. So there is still plenty of cricket to look forward to. January is typically the onset of extreme heat in Melbourne and also heralds the start of additional umpiring opportunities for members of the CV umpiring panel. These opportunities range from Under 18, Under 16 and Under 14 male and female pathways appointments in January as well as the VCCL Melbourne Country Week from 9th to 13th February, 2015. Anyone who has not previously officiated in these matches should carefully consider their availability as these matches offer an enjoyable and different umpiring experience to premier cricket. It is also interesting to look at some of the varied extreme heat policies that currently exist across the various competitions: Premier Cricket – Play suspended at 42 Degrees Under 18 and under 16 Male – Play suspended at 39 Degrees Under 14 Male and under 18 Female – Play suspended at 37 Degrees Under 16 and Under 14 Female – Play suspended at 36 Degrees Notwithstanding the above guidelines, it is worth remembering that the umpires still have the power to abandon or suspend play at any time at their discretion.