On-field abuse plagues club cricket

Grass-roots level umpires face increasing problems MCC plans for sin bin and in-game run reductions

The growing problem of football-style abuse and dissent toward grass-roots cricket umpires will today be exposed in an alarming new study. The research, which has yet to be published but has been seen by The Sunday Telegraph, involved a sample of 763 cricket umpires, of which the majority were qualified volunteers over the age of 55. Shockingly, well over half (56.2 per cent) said they had experienced verbal abuse while 21 respondents had even experienced physical abuse.

The Telegraph can also reveal that the MCC, global custodians of cricket’s laws since 1787, is now moving towards formally changing one of the fundamental traditions by introducing on-field and in-game sanctions for bad behaviour. The proposed sanctions would be on a sliding scale and include run deductions, sin-bins for a certain number of overs or simply sendings-off.

The MCC has become aware of a mounting issue, particularly at club level, and anecdotal evidence has now been supported by the new academic research. A total of 360 umpires in the study said abuse had increased in recent times against 272 who said it had not.

Of those giving up umpiring, a fifth said it was specifically due to the increased abuse. That was the second highest reason for walking away from cricket behind simply a feeling that they were not enjoying it any more.

Five local club matches were suspended in England last year due to violence. Separate incidents included a bowler being punched unconscious, a brawl between two teams and a man in his sixties being hospitalised.

Neil Priscott, the head of media and communications at the MCC, told The Telegraph it was an issue being “taken very seriously” and acknowledged the sense of a worsening problem. As revealed previously by The Telegraph, the MCC trialled in-game disciplinary sanctions this year in some schools, club and university cricket. A change to the next updated ‘Laws of the Game’ in October 2017 would not be feasible but more extensive trials, including in matches abroad, will now take place. The main issues have been identified at grass-roots level rather than with elite internationals.

“The trials suggested that an on-field deterrent or punishment were something we must pursue,” said Priscott. “It was also something that captains and umpires want to see. It did appear to have a positive impact. We are now aiming to greatly expand the trial with a view to it becoming law.”

Priscott stressed, however, that the MCC was currently a “way off that point”.

The research was conducted by Dr Tom Webb and Dr Mike Rayner at the University of Portsmouth and followed studies into grass-roots football and rugby union that showed a similar trend of rising abuse towards officials.

“The results were something we would not have expected of cricket,” Dr Webb told The Telegraph. “To see such high numbers being verbally abused was surprising and, although the physical abuse was around three per cent, that still surprised me as I didn’t expect there to be any at all. It is worrying.”

Umpires also responded to the survey, with one describing the so-called ‘spirit of cricket’ as having become “worthless”. Another suggested that umpires wear cameras to record the worst offenders. The Telegraph revealed similar issues earlier this year in other sports and, while football’s grass-roots problems were more acute, the number of cricket umpires reporting verbal abuse was slightly higher than in rugby.