Fenland umpires give their views on resumption of cricket

Recreational cricket is undergoing a lot of changes now due to COVID-19. Last week in the Fenland Citizen we got a player’s view from March Town’s club captain Andrew Wright, while this week we asked three local cricket umpires for their views on officiating during this post lockdown world.

Gary Nicholls, John Wallis and Francis Gaimster spoke to Stephen Wallis about their league games last Saturday.

Gary and Francis have been umpiring for ten years while former March 1st XI skipper John started his new role in 2016.

“It was great to be back,” said Gary, who was umpiring on the Essex coast at Frinton in the East Anglian League Premier.

“I hadn’t got a problem. It was good to get out there again,” said John.

Francis had some reservations: “There was a bit of both apprehension and looking forward to the game but it’s a game of cricket and I like to be involved,” he said.

The above was partly due to the news that two Whitings League Division 1 games had to be called off on Saturday due to COVID-related complications.

The main differences for the trio concerned the handling of items. “We are not allowed to touch anything apart from our own possessions," said Gary. "Players can now either put their possessions beyond the boundary and their caps directly behind the wicket keeper. The players were observing the rules, but you still need to be alert."

The ball is cleansed and sanitised every six overs or 20 minutes and no-one apart from the players are allowed to touch it.

John remarked that Cambridgeshire Cricket officials had issued a strong reminder during the week to ensure the ball is cleansed every six overs so it's clear how seriously the authorities are adhering to the new rules.

Furthermore, if a spectator touches the ball, it needs to be sanitised before the game resumes.

The non-striking batsman also needs to keep two metres away from the umpire.

All of them agreed that players were behaving very sensibly and adhering to the new Government and ECB guidelines. “It’s very much down to the captains being on the ball and James Williams, the Wisbech skipper, was very good on Saturday,” said John.

In addition, they all concurred that they had been fully briefed on the appropriate guidelines from Cambridgeshire Cricket.

“We have got to try to do what we can and act reasonably normally. That’s my attitude. It's a question of being sensible,” said Francis.

Listening to the three umpires, it certainly seems the local game is in safe hands.