A sunny summer’s afternoon in June
and two sides containing good standard Saturday league players, hungover
Saturday league players, ex players and even a taxi driver - selected whilst
giving the home team skipper a ride home at 4am – are playing in a Sunday
league 40over competition.
On a green top, the bowlers are
nipping it about and the openers are dropped in the slips no less than five
times until a wicket finally falls. This young Middle Stumper is in at
first drop...
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Village Cricket |
After surviving the first couple
of overs in which the ball was nipping about and hooping around and trying
to play their off spinner with everything apart from my bat – to which my
batting partner asked: “Who’s bowling to you, Murali? He’s all over you like a
wetsuit” – the moment came which changed the game and more than likely my
season.
The opening bowler, still nipping
it about, forced me into a waft outside off stump. A noise was heard by almost
everyone in the village and the appeal came from the opposition. As a young
player I was told by a senior teammate to never follow the ball when you nick
it, to this day I still haven’t done so.
The umpire answers the question
from the fielding side and gives me not out. I do not walk.
At drinks I was asked by a
teammate if I hit it. I confirmed. This was overheard by the league chairman
and as a result my side do not have my services for the next three games and I have my name in the local rag.
Now even my own mother would not
believe me but what wasn’t heard was me saying that as I didn’t follow the
ball, I was not sure if the ball carried. After all it was quite a big nick and
I was sure the umpire would have sent me on my way otherwise (the ball
incidentally was taken at hip height).
So is not walking cheating? Former Australian wicket keeper/batsman, Adam Gilchrist is a famous walker but when he was a young man playing club cricket over here in blighty he nicked one and walked. His team then lost by a couple of runs and he felt so bad he wrote a letter to his parents back home stating that he felt bad for letting his side down. He then did not walk while playing for NSW and scored a century, to which he said he doesn’t really count as he was out ‘cheaply’.
So is not walking cheating? Former Australian wicket keeper/batsman, Adam Gilchrist is a famous walker but when he was a young man playing club cricket over here in blighty he nicked one and walked. His team then lost by a couple of runs and he felt so bad he wrote a letter to his parents back home stating that he felt bad for letting his side down. He then did not walk while playing for NSW and scored a century, to which he said he doesn’t really count as he was out ‘cheaply’.
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Gilly |
WG Grace was another who
people came to watch bat not the bowlers bowl. Bill Lawry also said that: "the
umpire has a job and I have mine. I will not walk."
Not walking is unlike trying to
claim a grounded catch or appealing for a bat-pad when you know the batsman has
not hit it. In one instance you are letting the umpire make a decision and in
the other you are trying to deceive the umpire.
Another view point is: how many
bad decisions go against a player during a season? The amount of LBW’s
that I have had to walk for after hitting it and being given out caught behind
when I have been miles away from it are high.
The day before the original
incident, while playing in an important league game, our opening batsman got a
horrid LBW decision that even their wicket keeper, at tea, said wouldn’t have hit
another set of stumps; the keeper still appealed and the batsman had to go. If
then another batsman did not walk after an edge, would that be justice?
Like Mr Lawry, I will continue to
let the umpire make the decisions. Who am I to tell him he is doing his job
incompetently? Actually I think we should let the umpire make all the
decisions.
Not is my answer.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those areas around the spirit of cricket that causes all manner of headaches.
For the sake of clarity I'll nail my colours to the mast:
I won't walk
I will Mankad you
I will stretch the rules on looking after the ball as far as I can
How many times do umpires give you out LBW when you hit it? They never ask you first!
ReplyDeleteThe lesson learned is to never tell anybody that you nicked it!
ReplyDeleteI've walked on occasions, and then I've not walked on others so I don't know whether or not I have a leg to stand on. It is down to the umpire at the end of the day and I think it is harsh to be banned for not walking. Usually the tactic is to change your name and play anyway, hoping the chairman and umpires are different! ;)
Thanks to my name being in the paper, and my pic a few weeks back promoting the book... I can't do that!
ReplyDeleteThe league should be ashamed of themselves
ReplyDelete