Shirriffs on the rise as young umpire
Cricket umpires can’t shy away from making big calls – something Manawatu¯ ’s newest New Zealand panel representative knows all too well.
In his first season of big cricket, Tim Shirriffs was in charge of a Central Districts A v Wellington A match in Levin when he and colleague Llewellyn Els decided the Donnelly Park pitch was too dangerous.
The three-day game was abandoned, but there’s every chance Shirriffs will umpire similar matches this year after his elevation to the New Zealand reserve panel.
The 14-person squad sits under the top panel, which controls the Plunket Shield and interprovincial white-ball matches.
Shirriffs is Manawatu¯ ’s first umpire on a New Zealand panel since the days of Robert Anderson and Craig Morris last decade.
But although the 28-year-old, who is head of performing arts at Waiopehu College, will continue to umpire club cricket in Palmerston North, he now lives in Levin – as does Manawatu¯ ’s other umpire, Robert Murphy.
After standing in provincial A and women’s games last year, Shirriffs will do more of the same this season, as well as a few trips to Lincoln for the schoolboys’ first XI tournament and age-group competitions.
‘‘It was a pleasant and excellent surprise to know they’ve got that level of confidence in me,’’ Shirriffs said of his appointment.
‘‘I’ve always been an avid cricket watcher since I was a kid. I don’t know what got me into it.’’
He took up umpiring in 2006 when still at Palmerston North Boys’ High School, but after a couple of seasons shelved it until 2014 while he was at university overseas studying music.
After playing some cricket in his school years, Shirriffs began scoring, before deciding umpiring looked easy enough.
He soon found it anything but, with all sorts of laws and playing conditions to come to grips with, as well as getting the decisions right during long days in the elements.
As a ‘‘scrawny’’ 16-year-old he initially felt intimidated by some of the older club players, but his calm demeanour and sound decisionmaking have seen him rise through the ranks.
He rates ‘‘ground, weather and light’’ decisions, about when it’s fit to play – such as last year’s Donnelly Park match – as the hardest to get right.
Shirriffs is the youngest umpire on the reserve panel and expects the players will test him out until they get to know him.
With more than 20 days of New Zealand Cricket matches, mostly in the school holidays, as well as local rep and club games, Shirriffs will get plenty of time to admire the action from out in the middle.
‘‘It’s the best seat in the house to watch cricket, there’s no doubt about that.
‘‘Some of the players coming through, in youth cricket, they are so technically proficient, but also they can hit it at the end of a twenty20.’’
Shirriffs’ season begins tomorrow at a twenty20 tournament in Hawke’s Bay.