Umpiring courses can transform you from being an ordinary cricket fan to a special one

 By K.R. Nayar

Attending an umpiring course and getting more understanding of the various interpretations of the laws can surely boost one's enjoyment of the game. Here is my experience after attending the Emirates Cricket Board’s (ECB) umpiring course at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and how it made the 40 odd participants feel different after the two day session.

From left: Coach Shah Hussain and international umpires Iftikhar Ali and Shiju Sam

It is always an inspiring experience when one gets the opportunity to spend time with a bunch of cricket enthusiasts and do nothing else but talk about the game. I attended the Emirates Cricket Board’s two-day umpiring course on Friday and Saturday (August 21, and 22), conducted by the UAE's international umpires Iftikhar Ali and Shiju Sam and coach Shah Hussain at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, and it gave me immense joy. Although I had qualified as a state panel umpire from Kerala during my college days, due to work commitments I was not able to continue umpiring; hence this session was a timely one to brush up my knowledge of the laws of the game.

Whenever there has been an opportunity to address youngsters in schools or sports academies, I always make it a point to encourage them to try and gather as much knowledge as possible about anything that interests them, be it in academics or sports. It is only when we start diving deeper into a subject that we realise there is so much more to know and learn in that subject. In fact, many of the great personalities that I have interviewed have often mentioned that they are still a student in their field and that every day is a learning experience for them.

I genuinely believe that the 40 people who turned up for the umpiring course were sincere patrons of the game. What impressed me was their commitment to know about the laws of the game. Until the time they attended this umpiring course and learned about the rules of the game, thanks to the detailed explanation of each of the rules by Ali, they were just ordinary fans. From now on, they will no longer be ordinary fans since they will be more aware of the laws of the game and its various interpretations.

The participants of the ECB umpiring course held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium 

This is how a cricket fan can be different from an ordinary fan. There are many who talk for hours about the game and watch almost all the matches. But if they can do the same with the knowledge of the laws, and why and how everything he saw happened, it could be a different experience altogether.  As for me, every law was a recollection of the many instances from the matches that I have reported. I was also happy to learn about some of the changes in rules that had been introduced over the years since I had qualified. Signals for free-hit and power play did not exist then.

Another aspect that impressed me was that everyone had to undergo a fitness test. Such a test was unheard of during the days I took my umpiring test. Neeil Ojha, a strength and conditioning coach qualified from the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association, gave a lecture on the match officials' fitness programme. On the second day, each one of us were tested for our fitness. That was an eye-opener because in the past we've seen many obese umpires officiate Test matches. “A tired umpire can droop, and that slight tiredness to his leg can waver his vision of the line and length of the bowler's delivery in judging the leg before,” remarked Ojha.

Neeil Ojha, Strength and Conditioning coach  

The group that attended the session included businessmen, UAE woman cricketer Subha Venkataraman, who once bowled a super- over for the UAE in Netherlands, young cricketers, coaches, computer analysts and sales representatives. All of them had one thing in common, and that was a deep passion to know about the rules of cricket, an aspect that most fans rarely bother to understand.  What actually prevents many from attending an umpiring course is the thought that why should they go through such sessions when they have no plans of officiating a match,  especially under the hot sun. Cricket fans who watch a match with the knowledge of the interpretations of laws will surely have a different and richer experience compared to those ignorant of the same. 

Ali and Sam were bombarded with questions about various situations that an umpire could encounter during a match, and that led to the last day’s session ending close to midnight. Every attendee seemed thrilled with the thought that from the next dawn they could claim to be more enlightened with a deeper knowledge of cricket. This will surely place us all a little ahead than the ordinary fan.  A big thank you to Ali, Sam, and Hussain!