Forum

re to everyone who had made a contribution to this debate

i do a agree with having tradition
its were we are trying to bring in new umpiries of my age were i believe u simply wouldnt get them to do it

As one of the new umpires this year I just assumed that I was to wear the conventional shirt and tie and that is how I have turned out so far.
We are in the process of receiving new polo shirts (as well as the new jackets - which we have all paid for ourselves I'd like to point out!) and so it seems we are heading down the more casual look.
If you watch any cricket match on tv nowadays all umpires wear polo shirts I think. So it seems NIACUS are moving with the times.
Now must get myself for a trip to Dungannon in the morning....

I think the Umpires do a great job and personnally I don't mind what they wear,although the traditional white coat and dark trousers are hard too beat.

Would I be rite in assuming we have a few more this season as opposed to less,we have had umpires at all our matches down in Section 3 so far and great to see !

Umpire's clothing
Craig, good on you for taking up Umpiring at such a young age. Just wanted to make one comment though. Umpres have worn 'traditional' clothing for years (well before the 50 over format was created). They still manage to stand through 5 day test cricket & 4 day county matches to the current day. Whilst umpires are more than entitled to wear whatever they deem to be appropriate, I think that the 'traditional' clothing can not be too obstructive/uncomfortable etc otherwise Umpires would have made comment on it earlier. I personally think that the tie makes an Umpire look dignified and respectable (which is exactly how they should be treated) but I suppose clothes do not necessarily make the man!

Craig,
It's good to see young blood involved in umpiring.

re Craig - not sure that "moving with the times" has been for the overall good of the game - maybe it is more to do with getting Sky subscriptions, putting bums on seats for the commmercial benefit of entrepreneurs in India or, as in one spectacular case, to boost the ego of a conman. Perhaps someone could tell me how many more people have turned up to watch local cricket following the introduction of the coloured clothing and extra circles in the Senior Cup & powerplays in the ISC? I know that there is an argument towards uniformity in all playing regulations but it DOES make a relatively simple game more complicated. On the question of coloured clothing, perhaps Ballymena's choice of black -v- North Down on what was the hottest day of the season so far may not have been the "coolest" choice! A couple of the guys certainly admitted to being a trifle inconvenienced!

re jim
im only 17 and a new umpires this year. wearing a shirt and tie can be good i agree but if you want more younger people to be umpiring then cricket has to move on with the times in the umpiring department

Craig. I'm not disrespecting your wishes! But what is the difference now in umpiring?

re jim
have u ever umpired a match for a full 100 overs on a saturday afternoon?
when we were the tradition gear its not made for the way umpiring is now.

re Umpires clothing. Personally I like to see the Umpires in a shirt and tie. They look very smart and it's one of the few things left in the Gentlemans Game that has stood the test of time. But if the Umpires wish to change then it's their choice, after all, they're the ones wearing it!

Just to let all of our local cricketers know that the NIACUS will be introducing new clothing for Umpires over the next few weeks. Jackets and Polo Shirts will be worn by Umpires at local fixtures and it will be a major boost to our Umpires who put in a fine job each week for the clubs in the local game. Should anyone be interested in purchasing any of the new items they can contact me. The traditional image of the white coat will however not fade away as some of our colleagues wish to retain that part of their clothing for fixtures.

Jimmy not quite, I'm actually a full time professional cricket player and a freelance cricket writer and have been for some years now !

The problem is though........ No-one will employ ME!!!!

Vic with a post as long as yours, you must work for the Civil Service lol

When our Rite Honourable Secretary Robert Black phoned me last Thursday, enquiring could I make myself available for a T20 match on Friday evening, against a few footballers.... The alarms began to ring,surely not a game between Victoria C.C. and a mixture of Glenavon reserves and Lurgan Institute F.C.
Anyhow,as it's becoming difficult to get a game now even on our third team,I thought I had better show up.

My goodness what a surprise I got when I pulled into Lurgan Park at 6.30pm on Friday evening and there on the field warming up was a mixture of former Manchester United,Northern-Ireland and Irish premier league football galacticos,no less !

And what a game we had,with everyone of the soccer stars all very competant cricketers,Gary Hamilton and Keith Gillespie excellent bowlers and batsmen,but the guy who stood head & shoulders above any player from either team,was a James Taylor,who is the Glentoran goal-keeper.

A fantastic cricketer, a very quick bowler,plenty of bounce even if his length was a bit short,but were he really excelled was in his batting skills.
Absolutely brilliant text-book technique,footwork etc. and his clean hitting of a cricket ball was astounding and something too behold !

I congratulated the fellow after the game and politely asked were had played his cricket, he replied that he hadn't played cricket from school-days and that was at Campbell College some years past! (Must be good P.E.teachers down there ?)

Anyhow, the nite was followed by a barbaque and refreshments and a good time was had by all. Just one thing though that causes me some anxst. That is 'Blackie' our non-bowling opening batsman,took the wicket of Keith Gillespie,ct.& bowled and seemed very pleased with himself.....so why can he never catch anything when he plays for us on a Saturday ??????

Anyone know when the Senior Cup draw is?