Reality check: Showing the card to gentleman’s game
WELLINGTON: Ever heard of red and yellow cards being used to discipline cricketers?
Well, Wellington cricket authorities are mulling bringing in football-like cards to check players’ onfield behavior which is keeping umpires away.
According to a report published in Stuff.co.nz, there is a serious shortage of umpires in New Zealand capital’s pre- mier men’s club competition as they prefer school first XI level games rather than face abuse at senior level. At least three of the games in this season’s Ewan Chatfield one-day competition have been played without umpires.
“For premier men’s cricket, we need 12 umpires a Saturday and we’ve been averaging about nine,” said Grant McAlister, chairman of the Cricket Wellington Umpires and Scorers Association. “A lot of teams and people feel you can have one umpire in a game, but . . . it’s actually very hard. If something goes wrong, [the players] are the first to pounce and bombard you with stuff.”
The Wellington association’s decision to not appoint umpires, instead of leaving one to face the ire, has forced players to keep order and make decisions themselves.
“Without doubt, the games that haven’t had umpires — straight away captains haven’t been happy about it,” Cricket Wellington community cricket manager Chris Nevin told Stuff.co.nz.
Nevin has told the clubs that unless the number of umpires increase or the behaviour of the player improves, the association will look to bring in the card system. “Depending on the behaviour, they might get a yellow card and they’re stood down for an hour during the game, whether they’re batting or they’re bowling or they’re fielding.”