General advice to Umpires and Scorers

These notes are for the guidance of umpires and put forward with the aim of ensuring greater consistency of practice. General Drink intervals. Umpires should not remove the bails at drinks intervals. Left- and right-handed batsmen. Umpires need not cross over for left- and right-handed batsmen; it is a matter for individual judgement whether there is any advantage in so doing. Make sure you advise the fielding captain of your intentions. Sometimes the low sun will make it hard to see the crease line. In that case you will stand to the side where the sun is behind your back. Smoking - Umpires must not smoke on the field of play at any time. Umpires must be present for the toss 30 minutes before the scheduled starting time. This means moving out to the pitch five minutes earlier to give the captains time to get there on time. Signalling Umpires should signal to each other after the 4th fair ball of the over. This is done by showing two fingers of one hand, with the hand pointing towards the ground, towards the other umpire. Wide: Umpires must turn to face the scorers to make the wide-ball signal. Bowling Change: Umpires should signal a bowling change to the scorers. (Pointing to the bowler is recommended.) LBW or Caught: If there is likely to be any doubt on the part of the scorers, the umpire should signal to the scorers. (Suggestion: cupped hands for caught; tapped 'pad' for lbw.) Wides and No balls:  Requires an initial call and signal, followed by a signal to the scorers when the ball is dead. Holding the initial signal for a second or two can alert the scorers to the fact that an 'official' signal will be coming. It is not acceptable to make only one signal. Pre-signal: Umpires should give a 'pre-signal' when runs are going to be signalled as byes or leg-byes. (Usually this is a hand extended slightly and below waist height. It is a good idea to tell the scorers that you intend to use a 'pre-signal'. Resumptions:  At any resumption in play (including drinks intervals), the umpires must do all the checks required at the start of an innings. These checks include signalling to the scorers to ensure that they are ready. Height of the ball:  Striker's-end umpire should give a positive indication of height when the ball is over waist height or shoulder height, preferably by placing a hand at the appropriate level and raising it slightly. Striker's Position:  Striker's-end umpire should hold her/his hands apart to indicate the distance from the striker's back foot to the popping crease. Team Sheets: Umpires must ensure that team sheets are correctly filled in and signed. Ages of under-age players must be carefully checked so that restrictions on young players can be managed. Extra vigilance is required in Junior cricket. It is best practice to ensure that each player is given two names or at a minimum an initial and surname. Leg-side (One-Day) Wides: Any ball that passes down the leg side of the batsman should be called a wide - it is a good idea to explain this at the pre-toss meeting with the captains. Beamers: Umpires absolutely must issue the mandatory warning for all beamers, regardless of whether they are likely to be dangerous. Failure to do so is unacceptable. Front-Foot No Balls:  requires umpires to be certain that the delivery is legal. In case of doubt, call 'No ball'. Scorers Intervals: Generally scorers should approach umpires at the tea interval (between innings) to advise them of the score. (Umpires will not usually go straight up to the scorers at the close of an innings when they are very busy doing their final checks.) Junior Cricket: The quality of scorers at Junior levels is very variable. Umpires should be patient but persistent in getting acknowledgements of signals. Umpires are encouraged to use a 'pre-signal' so that scorers may be alerted to the fact that a signal will follow when the ball is dead. It is a good idea to ask umpires what their 'pre-signal' is. Acknowledgements: The scorers' practice of repeating the signal back to the umpires is recommended. (Umpires should wait until they have received an acknowledgement for the first signal before making a second signal.)

Characteristics needed for successful Recreational Umpires

A recreational umpire is a player in a match who acts as an umpire for a period in the match he/she is taking part in. Almost always you will be a member of the batting side.

SUCCESSFUL CHARACTERISTICS

• Concentration skills - ability to switch on and off between deliveries.
• Good man-management skills - calm demeanour in times of conflict.
• Sense of humour - show that you are enjoying the match and prepared to share a joke with the players. Smile!
• Communication skills - deal with any discussion of your decisions in a calm and clear manner.
• Strong resilient character - confident in your ability to deal with criticism.
• Resistant to pressure - not influenced by the loudness of appeals.
• Respectful and Respected - both teams are happy to have you as an umpire.
• Impartial - show the opposition that you will not favour your own side.
• Positive attitude / approach - show the players that you are happy to be performing this important role.
• Punctual - be on the field after an interval at the correct time and before the players.
• Team player - consult with and support your fellow umpire(s).
• Smart (in appearance) - dressed appropriately. Avoid bare feet and shorts.
• Able to apply common sense - If in doubt, consult the law book and/or the local competition playing conditions.
• Consistency (of decisions) - don't follow a bad decision with another bad decision to 'even the score'.
• Passionate about cricket - if you are not, what are you doing there?
• Passionate about the Spirit of Cricket - be prepared to step in if players are not following the code of conduct.
• Courageous - make the right decision, no matter the state of the match.
• Un-obstructive - let the players get on with the match.
• Knowledgeable of Laws of cricket - take the time before the start of each season to re-familiarize yourself with the current laws and playing conditions.
• Understanding of players needs - all the players you are umpiring must be respected, no matter previous interactions you may have had with them.
• Learns from experience - don't repeat past mistakes.
• Uses appropriate language - speak to the players in the same respectful manner that you would expect to be spoken to.

Law Changes from 1 October, 2017

On the 1st of October, 2017 a number of cricket law changes came into effect. These include:

• giving umpires the power to send off players from the field in response to the most serious incidents of player misconduct. 
• restriction on bat dimensions (the thickness of edges and depth of bat) which will be an edge limit of 40mm and bat depth of 67mm (60mm for the depth plus an allowance of 7mm for a possible curve on the face of the bat).
• a batsman will have made his or her ground when a bat bounces after being grounded behind the crease by a running or diving batsman. 
• The Handled the ball Law has been deleted, with its contents merged into Obstructing the field.
• The Lost ball Law has been deleted and is now covered under Dead ball.
• Injuries hoped to be prevented in a new Law which allow mechanisms tethering the bails to the stumps.
• Bowling of deliberate front foot No balls to be treated in same way as deliberate full-tosses.
• The Law regarding running out the non-striker has been altered.
• A new Law of the game, Players’ conduct, is introduced, giving an in-match consequence for poor on-field behaviour.

 Fraser Stewart, MCC's Laws Manager, explained the guiding principles behind all the changes.

He said: ""MCC has left no stone unturned in researching and redrafting the new Laws of Cricket and has done so in order to make the Laws work in a way that makes sense to players, umpires and spectators.

"The Laws are applicable worldwide so they need to be as simple as possible to understand and inclusive to all. The Club hopes to encourage interest in the game at all levels and believes these new Laws are reflective of the present time and easier for cricketers and umpires to interpret."