Umpire

“ If anyone were to ask us the question ‘What class of useful men receive most abuse and least thanks for their service?’ we should, without hesitation, reply, ‘Cricket umpires.’ The duties of an umpire are most laborious and irksome; they require for their proper performance the exercise of numerous qualifications, and yet it is always the lot of every man who dons the white coat, the present dress of an umpire, to receive, certainly no thanks, and, too frequently, something which is not altogether unlike abuse. ”

“ One wicket for no runs! We flung the scarlet symbol backward and forward in a great state of excitement, with visions of a freak match, the whole side of our opponents being out for ten runs, and so on. I remember the glum face of their umpire, a genial corn merchant, dressed in a white coat and a bowler hat, with a bewildering number of sweaters tied round his neck, glancing apprehensively at the pavilion. ”

“ We all know how hard it is to umpire, and that an umpire gets little thanks if he makes no mistakes, and a great deal of blame if he is wrong. You will often be asked to umpire, especially if you umpire well, and I think that you owe it to your friends to umpire if you can.
The great secret is attention. Watch the ball the whole time. Do not watch a line, for if the ball crosses it suddenly you will not know on which side of the line it struck the ground. If you follow the ball only, you will see where it strikes, and can then tell on which side of the line. ”

“ An umpire has to concentrate every particle of his attention on the game, every minute of the five or six hours he is in the field has to be devoted to studiously watching every ball that is bowled and every incident in the play. Once let his attention be distracted, or his interest lessened in what is going on around him, and he will make a mistake. The powers of concentration necessary in an umpire are so great, and are required for such a lengthy period, that it is impossible to find them in any man unless he is imbued with a thorough love of cricket. ”

“ About the worst umpire that there can be is one who is trying to show off his umpiring. I believe myself that players are as a class the best umpires. They are more used to watching the ball, and will, therefore, see it more correctly. Besides, they understand better what the players look for in an umpire.
It is your duty to keep the net at the right height, and you should arrange it before play begins, and from time to time afterwards, but don’t get down to look at it in the middle of a game, unless it is absolutely necessary. ”

“ Many times have I, in the excitement of the moment, protested against the decision of an umpire, but fundamentally I know that the umpires are honest and are doing their best, as all ball-players are. The umpires make mistakes and the players make errors. ”

“ If after some time the round is not decided by a throw, the umpire, who struts about like a turkey-cock, fanning himself, approaches. He plucks the girdle of the weaker combatant, when the wrestlers at once retire to the sides of the arena to rest, and to sprinkle a little water over themselves. ”

“ And when a man was running, and threw himself on his stomach to slide to his base, it was like an iron-clad coming into port. At first I appointed men of no rank to act as umpires, but I had to discontinue that. These people were no easier to please than other nines. The umpire’s first decision was usually his last; they broke him in two with a bat, and his friends toted him home on a shutter. When it was noticed that no umpire ever survived a game, umpiring got to be unpopular. ”

“ This umpire, not being able to give a decision, appealed to the other one, who, after some discussion with his colleague, decided in the affirmative, and consequently Leslie resumed his innings.
When an umpire has to decide the question of a ‘bump’ ball or not, he must be guided by its length, its flight from the bat, and the way in which the latter has been used; the state of the ground sometimes must be considered, as it is unlikely, when the turf is in a soft, spongy state, that a ball will bounce high or far from it. ”

“ The umpire shall take care that the regulations respecting the ball, bats, bases, and the pitcher’s and striker’s positions, are strictly observed, and he shall require the challenging club to furnish a ball, on which the size, weight, and the name of the manufacturer shall be stamped. He shall be the sole judge of fair and unfair play, and shall determine all disputes and differences which may occur during the game. He shall take special care to declare all foul balls and balks immediately upon their occurrence, in a distinct and audible manner. ”

“ Neither does any one reflect for a moment that the umpire occupies this perilous position while regarded as a common enemy by both of the contesting teams, and as a legitimate object for insulting abuse from the partisan portion of the crowd of spectators. In fact, the umpire stands there as the one defenseless man against thousands of pitiless foes. ”

“ It should be unnecessary, but I am not quite sure that it is, to advise all players, be they schoolboys or otherwise, to obey the decision of the umpires at all times without any outward sign of what they feel, and to show a sportsmanlike spirit by putting up in the most cheerful manner with occasional blunders on the umpire's part. This applies to every one—batsman, bowler, and fieldsman alike. ”

“ No umpire should ever be chosen to stand in first-class matches unless he possesses the perfect use of these two senses. More than once in important matches we have seen an umpire with his ears stuffed full of cotton-wool. This, no doubt, was an excellent preventive against catching cold in the head, but it was a monstrous thing to see the result of a match of some interest depending upon the amount of sound that could penetrate through two or three layers of wadding. ”

“ The Umpire is the sole and absolute judge of play. In no instance shall any person, except the Captain of the competing teams, be allowed to address him or question his decisions, and they can only question him on an interpretation of the Rules. No Manager or any other officer of either club shall be permitted to go on the field or address the Umpire, under a penalty of a forfeiture of a game. ”

“ The umpire then puts them exactly in the same position as they were before. It is remarkable with what accuracy he makes them resume their former position; he can tell at a glance their exact posture at each moment of the bout; and he does not make the least error in the bend of their bodies or the touch of their hands. Such an eye naturally requires long training; and the umpire has, like the wrestler, to rise from the lowest rung of his profession. ”

“ It is an absolute impossibility to find an umpire who will not make mistakes at times. The most likely slip for him to make is, perhaps, when he is appealed to for a 'catch at the wicket.' Let us just glance at some of the difficulties which may, and often do, arise as to this decision. The umpire has to satisfy himself that the bat or the batsman's hand (but not the wrist) has touched the ball before it has lodged in the wicket-keeper's hand. There are often cases where there is no doubt that the bat has touched the ball ”

“ The umpire at the bowler’s wicket shall be appealed to before the other umpire in all cases, except in those of stumping, hit wicket, run out at the striker’s wicket, or arising out of Law 42, but in any case in which an umpire is unable to give a decision, he shall appeal to the other umpire, whose decision shall be final. ”

“ The umpire should stand perfectly still at the moment the ball is delivered; he must not even move his head, as any moving object directly behind the ball, and especially as near to it as the umpire is standing, may distract the batsman's sight from the ball. He must watch the bowler's hindmost foot to see if it touch or cross the bowling crease, in which case it is a 'no ball,' and must almost at the same time watch the bowler's hand and arm to guard against any infringement of the rule against throwing. ”

“ Do not call until the ball has touched the ground, and then call as quickly as possible. [69]
Remember that an umpire is an unfortunate necessity, and his first object should be to make himself as little conspicuous as possible, and to annoy the players as little as he can. What the players want is an umpire who will attend to the game and will give an honest decision as quickly and distinctly as possible. They do not want any fancy umpiring done at their expense. ”

“ The umpires are always with us, and the umpire problem has been a vexation of Base Ball since the beginning of Base Ball time, yet neither the umpires, the public, the club owners nor the league officials need be discouraged, for it was fully proved in 1912 that umpiring, as a fine art, has advanced a step nearer perfection. We may well doubt that perfection in its every quality shall ever be achieved, but we may all feel sanguine that it is possible to realize better results. ”

“ He shall, in every instance, before leaving the ground, declare the winning club, and shall record his decision in the books of the scorers. The umpire shall also require that the game be recorded by a scorer for each of the contesting clubs. In all matches the umpire shall be selected by the captains of the respective sides, and shall perform all duties above enumerated.
Sec. 2. The umpire in any match shall determine when play shall be suspended; and, if the game cannot be fairly concluded, it shall be decided by the last equal innings, provided five innings have been played ”

“ Umpire who must be a thoroughly competent and impartial girl. The umpires call all fouls except cases coming under the authority of the referee; when the fouls are made by players crossing the field lines, linesmen judge them.
Each umpire makes her own decision independently of the other, but a foul called by one umpire cannot be questioned by the other. The umpire calls time by blowing a whistle when stating a foul and indicating the offender; she reports to the scorer the player at fault and the nature of the foul. The referee appoints the
Scorer who must keep the score. ”

“ Merrywether, the impartial umpire, was able to officiate again, which fact pleased both sides. They knew they could be sure of a square deal at his hands, and that was all any honest ball player could ask. When the public understands that an umpire always tries to 161 do his duty as he sees it, and cannot be swerved from his path by any hoodlum tactics, they seem to feel a sort of affection for such a man, who is an honor to his chosen profession. ”

“ No ball may be moved because of its lying in a hole or on bad ground, except by the umpire or with his permission. Where there is no umpire present, permission to move a ball, or to set up a hoop or peg or other indulgence for which an umpire would have been appealed to, must be asked of the other side. ”

“ It is undecided whether the umpire should be considered part of the earth or part of the air. If a ball hit him, and be caught before it touch the ground, is the batsman out? Some umpires say Yes, and others say No. Severe accidents have sometimes happened to umpires who have been struck with the ball, and there is on record that at least one has met his death in this way. ”

“ It did not dawn on me at first that this was their eleventh man, arrived at that moment. When it did, I could not help laughing to think that he should imagine he could rush in like that while his substitute was still fielding. Then I heard the bowler appeal to the umpire, and to my horror I heard the umpire (their umpire) say "Out."
"But they can't have twelve men fielding," I cried. "The substitute is still there."
"You're out, Sir," said the umpire haughtily. "The substitoot has already retired. 'E's standing there watching the game with 'is 'ands in 'is pockets." ”

“ This picture illustrates how easily the base runner, with his deceptive slide, can get away from the catcher, who has the ball waiting for him. It is always a hard decision for the umpire. Shown in the picture are, left to right, Conroy of Washington, Umpire Evans, and Catcher Land of Cleveland.
The morning of the second day is always a pleasant occasion. The muscles which have remained idle so long begin to rebel at the unaccustomed exercise, and the players are as pleasant as a flock of full-grown grizzly bears. ”

“ In all cases of leg-before-wicket the umpire should make sure whether or not the ball but for the leg intervening would have hit the wicket; for besides the possibility of passing on either side of the stumps, the ball might have gone over them. So the umpire must take into consideration whether the ball is rising or dropping at the time it hits the leg. It ought not to be necessary to remind all umpires that any case of doubt should be decided in favour of the batsman. ”

“ All that Doe did then was to direct the ball with perfect ease between Point and Short Slip and to glance quickly towards the pavilion to see if the stroke had been noticed. The sight of him batting there made me feel another squirmy sensation at the thought that he was my especial friend. He had given, I recall, his grey hat to the umpire to hold, and the wind was playing with his hair. His shirt-sleeves were rolled up, showing arms smooth and round like a woman's. ”

“ The ball should not be allowed to touch the ground from the time the Umpire throws it into the air until it falls at the pole after a point has been made by the ball striking the post. It is the duty of the Umpire to go to the pole, mark the score, return with the ball to the center of the field, where he again sends it up into the air, and the game starts afresh for a second point to be made. ”