Page 1

In This Issue: From the Editor

…And the Vice-President

From the Desk of the Umpiring Manager

Blind Cricket Championships

Lesson Learnt – “The impact of an unintentional call of an

unintentional short run”

The Pope Doesn’t Umpire Sport

A Streaker Invades a Premier Cricket Field

‘Mankading’ Incident Again Gets Air Time

Planning for the 2017 Crockett Shield – The Mission Continues

Macca’s Book Review

VCAUSA Calendar

The NZ Exchange: (L R) Adrian West, Alan McCarthy and Kim Cotton during the February, T & D Night.

(See page 6 for details.)

VCA Umpires’ & Scorers’ Association Newsletter

Vol. 22 No. 6, 2015-2016 season

March, 2016

Volume 22 Number 6 2015-2016 Page 2

Magazine of the Victorian Cricket Association Umpires’ and Scorers’ Association Incorporated. Cricket Victoria (CV) is acknowledged for the printing of hard copies

as well as the electronic distribution to the CV Panel Members.

VCAUSA COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT

PRESIDENT: ALAN MCCARTHY IMMEDIATE PP & VICE-PRESIDENT: GERRY SCHEMBRI

SECRETARY: DAN BOMFORD TREASURER: TREVOR FINLAYSON

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: KAITLYN ABRAHALL (SCORER), JOHN COLLINS, LUKE EDWARDS, JOHN RICHARDS, GLENN SCHACHE, ROB STURGEON & TONY VENTURA

OTHER OFFICE HOLDERS AND CO-ORDINATORS

BADGES & ACCESSORIES: GLENN CUMMING LAW 43 EDITOR: TREVOR FINLAYSON

SOCIAL ORGANISER: GERRY SCHEMBRI HISTORIAN: BILL ELLEMOR

MISCELLANEOUS APPOINTMENTS: DARRELL HOLT

CURRENT LIFE MEMBERS J.R. Collins (1976) W.H. Howieson (1979) K. Allday (1980)

G.M. Thies (1981) D.N. Bomford (1989) C. Andrews (1990)

R.C. Bailhache (1994) D.W. Holt (1995) N.J. Grant (1997)

D.L. Byrne (2000) R.F. Francione (2001) L.J. King (2002)

W.R. Ellemor (2003) P. Hooper (2005) A.L. Eldridge (2006)

J.L. Collins (2010) J.A. Howard (2011)

CORRESPONDENCE AND CONTRIBUTIONS: ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO THE SECRETARY

DAN BOMFORD, PO BOX 2692, MOUNT WAVERLEY 3149

VCAUSA WEBSITE: http://vcausa.vic.cricket.com.au

CONTENTS

From the Editor..……………………………………………… 3

…. And the Vice-President – VEEP Speak……………….. 4

From the Desk of the Umpiring Manager………………….. 5

Blind Cricket Championships……………………….………. 7

Lesson Learnt – “The unintentional call of an

unintentional short run” ………… 8

A Streaker Invades a Premier Cricket Field...………….…. 10

‘Mankading’ Incident Again Gets Air Time......................... 11

Planning for the 2017 Crockett Shield

– The Mission Continues…………..12

Macca’s Book Review……………………………………….. 14

VCAUSA Calendar.……………………....………………….. 16

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FROM THE EDITOR

In this the last issue of Law 43 for the 2015-16 season, I should like to join with Vice-President, Gerry Schembri, in congratulating those umpires and scorers who will be involved in finals matches. As has always been an inevitable consequence of cricket in Melbourne, for some of the best weather for the playing of the game, as is so often the case during March, we are in finals series in which only a small fraction of those involved throughout the summer, will actually be “on the park.” But it has been a particularly busy summer of cricket, so we look forward to some exciting finals matches.

In the regular column which has been shared throughout this season by both the President and Vice-President, you are reminded of what your membership of the Association has offered you and also to diarise Friday, 22nd April, the date for our Annual Dinner and Presentation Night. You should have already received notice for this from our Secretary, and the opportunity to “sign up” for the evening. But if you have not yet responded, then may I refer you to the sheet on page 15 of this issue.

In Richard Patterson’s regular column, he offers the readership some reflections on the season past and provides some “helpful hints” for those 40 Panel members whose season will continue beyond this week.

Some members of our Panel were involved in officiating in the Blind Cricket Championships just after Christmas. One of these, Glenn Schache, has written about his experiences in this event. Clearly he enjoyed the experience. I should like to thank Russell Hubbard for his article entitled “Lesson Learnt” which I hope you find of some interest. Indeed, perhaps we need to be reminded more often of those aspects of the Laws which are rarely used in practice. During Round 15, Paul Varghese and I found ourselves interrupted in our umpiring, by a streaker. I am fairly certain that such an event is fairly rare in Premier cricket so I thought the incident was worth reporting. Hopefully you enjoy the read.

On Sunday, 14th February, our Association took on the Mount Waverley CC Vets in the second social cricket match for this season. Thanks to Alan McCarthy for his report on the match, the result of which augers well for the 2017 Crockett Shield exchange with our South Australian colleagues. Thanks also to Alan McCarthy for the “Macca’s Book Review” column which we have been able to maintain throughout this season, although in this particular issue, I have prepared the review based on the book, entitled, “Test of Time”, which I trust you enjoy reading. It would be excellent to see others contribute to this column in next season’s issues.

I have also added a couple of recent items from Playing the Game and I should express my thanks to Darrell Holt for regularly forwarding this publication for my perusal.

.Trevor Finlayson

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… AND THE VICE-PRESIDENT – VEEP SPEAK

The end of the 2015-16 season is fast approaching so now is an opportune time to pass on my congratulations to all those umpires who have been selected to officiate in finals matches and wish them well for the weeks ahead. You have had a good season so enjoy the finals experience.

Over the season, the VCAUSA Committee of Management have organised various activities and benefits to assist members and their partners. To date these have included:

- Free Melbourne Cup day BBQ lunch at Carlton Cricket Club.

- Organised social cricket matches against the Australian Cricket Society and Mt Waverley Vets including lunch and drinks provided at no cost to participants.

- Supply of inventory and memorabilia given to travelling and visiting umpires.

- Providing annual awards and milestone certificates to umpires and scorers.

- Production and distribution of the monthly Law 43 newsletter.

- Free sausage sizzle prior to the February 2016 T & D meeting.

- Umpires & Scorers’ table at MUCC annual business breakfast.

- Restaurant night at Jim’s Greek Tavern, Collingwood.

- Theatre night to see the production of “Georgy Girl” in Melbourne.

Your Committee of Management is very aware of the need to provide value to members and we understand that we are primarily a member services organisation. We are also aware of our advocacy role with Cricket Victoria as a means of providing a collective voice on behalf of our umpire and scorer members.

With these thoughts in mind, the Committee have agreed to provide a substantial member subsidy towards attendances at this season’s annual dinner and presentation night to be held at the Veneto Club in Bulleen on Friday, 22nd April, 2016. The guest speaker will be retired AFL umpire, Steve McBurney so this promises to be another memorable night. Further details about this event may be found on our website and elsewhere in this issue of Law 43.

For those of you thinking about attending Easter in Adelaide in 2017 and / or participating in the Crockett shield cricket match, I can advise that our South Australian counterparts are well advanced in their planning for this event so now is a good time to mark your diaries and start discussions at home.

Finally, I would like to personally thank those members who have supported the VCAUSA in season 2015-16 and assure all members that your committee has your best interests at heart. Hope to see many of you at our annual presentation night dinner on 22nd April 2016.

Gerry Schembri

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FROM THE DESK OF THE UMPIRING MANAGER

We are now into the finals series for the 2015/2016 season. Again it only feels like yesterday that the season started. The last six months have certainly been a blur.

The end of the season is a time for reflection on how the season has gone, both individually and collectively. For me this season has been a frustrating one as I have not been able to give this panel 100% during the season. For various reasons the management side of my job has severely curtailed my observing and coaching role.

Collectively we have had some great achievements throughout the season. I have listed those achievements below:

Phil Gillespie becoming the 5th Victorian member of the Cricket Australia National Panel Geoff Joshua 3rd Umpire at BBL Final Shawn Craig and Ash Barrow umpiring the inaugural Women’s Big Bash Final John Ward’s continued involvement in International T20 and ODI (even after his injury

sustained in India) David Shepard joining Claire Polosak (NSW), Tony Wilds (NSW) and Damien Mealey (Q’ld) on

the CA Emerging Umpires Panel David Shepard, Steve Brne and Dale Ireland officiating at the CA U19 Male National

Championships Daryl Brigham officiating at the CA U17 Male National Championships where he umpired the

Grand Final Luke Edwards umpiring at the U18 Female National Championships Nick Ferns attending the U15 Male Championships Francesco Fabris representing Cricket Victoria and the VCAUSA in Christchurch Vinnie Borg to represent us at Auckland in April 10 Umpires umpiring on “The G” for the first time Milestones: 400 games: John Collins, Malcolm Gunn

300+ games: Graeme Lloyd, Colin Hall 200+ games: Dean Jones, Graham Slater 100+ games: Gaurav Bawa, George Biagioni, Vinnie Borg, Stephen Brne, Alfred

Gaughan, Ian Leach, David Lowe, Scott Olufson, Mike Rose, Ange Sammartino, John Walker, James Watson

The advent of the Women’s Big Bash and the new format of the Women’s National Cricket League brought along many opportunities for movement between the panels. The first match after Christmas saw 11 1st XI umpires unavailable due to BBL, WBBL or other reasons. This enabled six 2nd XI umpires to move up to the 1sts. They all performed to the level expected for the 1st XI.

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Another positive for me is that this year, even though it was a challenging year with appointments, we had 100% coverage across all grades. This is despite not having the five CANUP members for most of the season and other availability issues due to work or illness. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your availability during the season and especially those who regularly doubled up on weekends. It is really appreciated. I would also like to thank those umpires who I called on a Saturday morning (in one case 9.30pm on a Friday night) who filled in at such short notice. This certainly makes my job easier.

To the mentors in all eleven’s. Thank you for your efforts during the year. I know the umpires in each eleven value the feedback which you supply them with. It certainly helps them to grow their umpiring experience.

The finals are obviously upon us. The panels will not be announced until the Monday after the last match. There is a compulsory meeting on Wednesday 9th March for all finals panel umpires. There are only 40 spots in the finals panels with 96 umpires vying for these positions. It goes without saying there will be some very happy and some not so happy umpires.

We also had another season of International visitors. James Middlebrook from England and our New Zealand exchange umpires Kim Cotton (Christchurch) and Adrian West (Auckland).

James returned for his second year with us, however this year he spent his time umpiring and not playing. He officiated in nine Premier Men’s and Women’s matches, eight Pathways games and four Country Week matches. James is using these matches to increase his experience as an umpire. He hopes upon his return to England that he will soon begin umpiring minor county cricket and then move into County Cricket.

We welcomed Kim and Adrian to our shores in early February. They both officiated in a 1st XI Premier Match and various Country Week fixtures. Kim was the second female (after Dee last year) to umpire in Premier Cricket. She had actually been in Australia two weeks prior to joining us when she officiated in the U18 Female Championships with Luke. Kim began umpiring in Christchurch after a playing career. Her 1st XI match was the Footscray vs St Kilda with Steve Brne. She also umpired with James Middlebrook in a Country Week fixture, thus bringing an international flavour to Windy Hill.

Adrian, who is originally from England, has been umpiring 1st XI cricket in Auckland for several years and enjoyed the opportunity to come to Melbourne to umpire. He was in charge of the Melbourne Uni vs Dandenong match at Melb Uni with Dale Ireland.

Both Kim and Adrian, along with James, enjoyed a dinner with the umpires they officiated with at PJ O’Briens during their stay.

One of the other positives for the year (and a frustration at times) is the Community and Representative Accreditation Program. The take up of the new on-line versions has been extraordinary. Over 350 participants have joined the Australian Cricket Family as umpires and approx.. 250 have gone on to complete the on-line components of the programs. There are 200 of these participants who do not belong to any umpire association and as such will be introduced to local associations for the beginning of next season.

With finals matches upon us I thought it would be a good idea to remind you of the 5P’s:

Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

So here are some basic things you may wish to follow:

72 Hours before match: � Make sure umpiring gear shirt, trousers and shoes are clean � Contact your partner for the match to discuss any playing conditions / what time are they

arriving etc. 48 Hours before match:

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� Research teams � Review Laws and Playing conditions

24 Hours before match: � Pack umpiring gear and equipment � Ensure you know directions to ground

12 Hours before match: � Check weather forecast and ensure you have appropriate gear � No alcohol or heavy meal � No strenuous exercising

1 Hour before match: � Arrive at game � Set up stumps etc. and conduct toss � Stretch – Warm up � Dress � Ensure you have all necessary equipment (counter etc.) before you walk on to the ground

I would like to thank everyone for their efforts in season 2015/2016 and look forward to working with you again in season 2016/2017.

Remember “to do the basics extraordinarily well!”

Richard Patterson

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BLIND CRICKET CHAMPIOINSHIPS

Over the two weeks after Christmas 2015, I was privileged to be able to stand in the 33rd

Australian Blind Cricket Championships. What a new challenge this was – quite different from umpiring sighted cricket! I had heard about it from our NZ colleague, Dee Venter, who was coming to Melbourne to officiate. Dee had previously stood in some blind cricket games earlier in the year in NZ. So, along with CV colleagues Mike Rose and Stuart Black, we came along to the Victorian Blind Cricket Association’s headquarters at Kooyong to become acquainted with the playing conditions. There we met with Chris Ives, who some of you may remember from the CV panel a few years ago.

First, a bit of history: Australia developed the game of Blind Cricket, a sport which is now played throughout the world. The game had its beginnings in 1922 right here in Melbourne where it was first played at a hostel in Prahran. At the time of a Test Match, two residents thought blind people could play cricket as well, and put rocks in a tin can and began to play a crude version of what is played today. The game was then introduced to other States in Australia and was mainly played during lunchtime at workshops where vision impaired people were employed.

In 1928 in Sydney, the first Interstate game of Blind Cricket took place between NSW and Victoria. Later the same year, a NSW team travelled to Melbourne to continue the challenge.

In January 1953, the Australian Blind Cricket Council (now Blind Cricket Australia) was formed in conjunction with the inaugural Australian Blind Cricket Carnival (Championships) which were held at Kooyong in Melbourne. Australian Blind Cricket Carnivals (Championships) are conducted bi-annually and are held in State rotation around Australia.

The 33rd tournament in Victoria was played in two formats. The first week was 40/40 games played at Victoria Park in Carlton. The second was the T20 games, played at Fawkner Park in South Yarra. Umpiring blind cricket requires a lot more vocalisation than normal cricket.

Glen Schache

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LESSON LEARNT - “THE IMPACT OF AN UNINTENTIONAL CALL

OF AN UNINTENTIONAL SHORT RUN”

During a recent match at the Albert Ground I was reminded of the importance of our knowing the intricacies of the Laws of Cricket, and our responsibilities as umpires - especially in situations that do not occur frequently. Over the eight or nine years I have been officiating in Premier Cricket, I could count on one hand the number of matches in which my colleague or I have had to call a Short Run. So when I spotted one in the Melbourne vs Greenvale game earlier this year it really caught me by surprise.

Whilst standing at the bowlers end, a cover drive was played and I quickly got myself square of the wicket. The batsman running to my end was watching the ball rather than focusing on making good his ground, and as he turned for the second run, it was clear to me that he had grounded his bat on the line but not beyond it. As this is a situation that does not occur frequently, I was immediately alert to the offence and called “Short Run” to notify the batsman of the infringement.

Upon hearing the call, the batsman (who had already progressed one or two strides along the pitch) chose to stop, turn around, make good his ground and set off again for the second run. The fielding team quickly realised that there was now a chance of a run out, and with shouts of “keepers end, keepers end,” the fielder retrieving the ball expertly executed a fast return to the keeper just above the stumps, and the bails were duly whipped off! Frantic appeals by the fielding team ensued and up goes the finger of my colleague with the batsman about a yard out of his ground. Off the batsman trudged……..

As is customary at the fall of the wicket, we came together and I mentioned that perhaps the batsman would have been better to have just kept running rather than turning around to make good his ground. And then it crossed my mind, is “Short run” called at the point of the incident or do you wait until the ball becomes dead?…. Hummm…… I raised this with my colleague who offered, “I think it’s when the ball’s dead”. Too late I thought, the batsman was clearly run out as a result of his decision to return to make good his ground. There appeared to be no grounds under which we could consider recalling the batsman since he had been given out, Run Out.

At the drinks interval we were asked by the Melbourne Captain who accompanied the drinks, “What happened with the Run Out?” To which I explained that the batsman had run short, was notified, and had turned to try to make good his ground before being run out at the other end. My explanation was accepted and there was no mention of the incident in the Captains’ reports.

When we returned to the rooms, I consulted my copy of “The Laws of Cricket”, specifically Law 18.4(a) - ‘Unintentional Short Runs’ - which states “if either batsman runs a Short Run, the umpire concerned shall, unless a boundary is scored, call and signal Short Run as soon as the ball becomes dead and that run shall not be scored.”. My unintentional call of Short Run occurred on a batsman’s unintentional Short Run, resulting in a dismissal that would likely not have occurred if I had followed the true letter of Law 18.

The lesson I learnt from all of this is that it’s vitally important that we know how to apply all of the laws correctly, even those that have been written for rare or ‘blue moon’ situations. When compared to, say, ICC umpire Garry Baxter giving Ricky Ponting out caught behind off the helmet, this is probably on the lower end of the scale of umpire misdemeanours. It did, however, result in a batsman being dismissed, and could have impacted the outcome of the game.

I wonder if any of my colleagues would have considered recalling the batsman upon realisation of the mistake?

Russell Hubbard

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THE POPE DOESN’T UMPIRE SPORT

Why in the hell is it that fans get so wrapped up in umpiring decisions? Seemingly, no matter the sporting code, fans tend to believe that umpires and referees should possess papal-like infallibility. For some reason many spectators simply cannot tolerate incorrect umpiring decisions. Why umpires are judged in this light lacks common sense, although sporting fans at times are not always known for having this quality in abundance.

Let’s look at the sport of cricket in isolation for a minute. In a four-innings match, as many as 40 wickets can fall. Each of them comes about as a result of human error. All because, in a split second, a player makes a flawed decision – he leaves a ball that hits the stumps, pops up a catch, misjudges a run, or gets hit on the pads rather than using his bat. Conversely, batsmen can be given lives by errors – or at times complete ineptitude – in the field. Elementary catches can be grassed and batsmen can be reprieved by a no ball.

Such mistakes are looked upon as part and parcel of the game. However, umpiring errors are seldom viewed as sympathetically by the fans. In sports like Australian Rules Football vitriol can be taken to the extreme with the ire and invective directed at the umpires frequently over the top. While working for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation I spent about 15 years hosting a two-hour Saturday morning sports talkback program in Perth. The questions from some listeners at times simply left me shaking my head.

It was not unusual to field a call where a certain umpiring decision from the previous weekend was called into question. Yes, the previous weekend! “What did you make of that decision in the third quarter last weekend where Matthew Pavlich was pinged for holding the ball. How could he have been penalised for that?” was the sort of thing that would be asked. If it wasn’t for the sensibility of working for the national broadcaster I may have answered, “Who gives a stuff?”

Honestly, I would have called the game and would have no recollection of the incident in question nor would I think it of any importance if I did. Yet to many fans it was an injustice that needed to be dissected and addressed – albeit seven days later! Similar questions would not be asked about how a certain player could miss a set shot from 20 metres out directly in front. Or how a player could kick the ball into play following a behind and put it straight on the chest of an opponent 25 metres away, only to see it go back over his head for a goal. No, they were just skill errors that, while unfortunate, were not to be dwelt on. But an umpiring error, what the hell, that should simply not have happened.

How many times do we hear comments like, ‘he’s only a youngster’ or ‘it’s his first game’ when a player makes a bad blue? But an umpire in his first game in front of a crowd of 50,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is never given the same leeway. “He should know the bloody rules”, would be the crowd reaction upon a blatant error. Guess what, he does know the rules but in the heat of the moment made an error of judgement. Just like the first-game player who knows that he needs to get back from the man on the mark before he tries to kick the ball but fails to do so and a turnover – and possibly goal – results.

It is completely illogical to accept that players will, by nature, make countless errors during a match, no matter the sport, but the officials controlling the encounter should be blemish free or very close to it. Fans may baulk at the proposition but, believe it or not, umpires are human. And, as a result, humans are – with the curious exception of the chap who occupies a bedroom in Vatican City’s Papal Palace – ‘fallible’. Seriously, I kid you not.

(Glenn Mitchell from Playing the Game, No. 1767-8819, 18th February, 2016)

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The Lords’ “Freaker” Michael Angelow,

(3.20 pm, 4th August, 1975)

(Image from www.espncricinfo.com/ magazine/content/story/653229.html)

A STREAKER INVADES A PREMIER CRICKET FIELD

It was Day 2 in Round 15 (6th February, 2016) at Ross Gregory Oval. Day 1 had been abandoned on account of water having found its way under the cover on a rainy Friday night of 29th January, with the result that players and umpires had been contacted by Peter Binns on the morning of Saturday, 30th January to tell them not to turn up for the afternoon. Consequently, for the following Saturday, the Saint Kilda vs Footscray Edgewater 4th Grade Match would be Two-Day rules for a match to be played in just one day.

I had been appointed to umpire the match with Paul Varghese. The day did not begin ideally as, on my arrival at the ground, the first matter to which I had to attend, was the homeless chap who was still sound asleep on the concrete at the door of the Umpires’ change room. That unfortunate incident sorted, we proceeded to the preparation of the wicket and the toss.

But prior to this we noticed that the two captains were in discussion. One wondered what to expect for the afternoon? Footscray Edgewater captain won the toss and elected to bat. The Footscray Edgewater approach from the very first ball was as if they were playing a T20 match. The score raced to just over 100 from 18 overs at which time I was standing at Square Leg with the Saint Kilda captain beside me, when he said, “I think you will find there will be a declaration after 20 overs.” Sure enough that is precisely what happened. I was somewhat surprised but the declaration score was 4 for 123 from 20 overs.

But that was not the only “surprise” in store for us on this afternoon!

Saint Kilda commenced their innings and proceeded at a more leisurely pace. So clearly, they were not playing T20!

Shortly after the Tea break, a large group of perhaps 50 young men gathered on the hill at the southern end of Ross Gregory Oval. They initially displayed their lack of knowledge of what was happening in the match, by shouting out that Paul should have called a wide to a ball pitched outside off stump, which, for a “white ball” match, may well have been a wide, but they should have been able to see that we were using a red ball.

Then a bowler with an action somewhat similar to that of Michael Bevan, was brought on at my end. The “crowd” displayed their knowledge of Australian cricket history by chanting “Bevo! Bevo!” to the extent that I asked the bowler if they were friends of his – an association which he flatly denied.

By this stage the Saint Kilda score was increasing slowly with no particular excitement for these spectators, when all of a sudden and to our considerable surprise, a naked male form, clad in nothing more than a coloured top hat, climbed over the fence in front of the crowd and sprinted across the field and took up a position at about mid-wicket. He proceeded to “bare his backside” towards the sun, bow to the crowd a couple of times and then to do four push-ups. Such an ugly male form, I have never seen before!

He then turned and sprinted off the field at the northern end. He leapt the fence and lay on the grass verge adjacent to the road which in a few weeks from that day would become part of the

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Grande Prix raceway. How he did not damage his “vital parts” in scaling the fence is difficult to imagine. If this was all part of “a buck’s turn” and the streaker the “groom to be”, I could not help but feel sorry for the expectant bride-to-be!

Unfortunately, neither Paul nor I is accustomed to umpiring with a mobile phone in our pocket so it was not possible to add to this tale with a picture of the incident. But my mind went back to Day 4 of The Lords’ Test of the 1975 Ashes series when the first ever “Test Match Streaker” (or “Freaker” as the commentator, the late John Arlott, referred to the infamous Michael Angelow) was photographed leaping the stumps on that hallowed turf. So I have reproduced one of the many images available from this particular incident. I have already made mention of the “naked male form” to which all at the Ross Gregory Oval were exposed on 6th February, 2016. It was ugly by comparison with that in the attached image!

And just for the record, Saint Kilda won the match on the first innings when the two captains agreed to conclude proceedings at 4.38 pm, with Saint Kilda’s score on 7 for 147.

Trevor Finlayson

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‘MANKADING’ INCIDENT AGAIN GETS AIR TIME

A ‘Mankad' dismissal in a Geelong Cricket Association eighth grade match played in Victoria last weekend has, despite the Marylebone Cricket Club’s repeated denials in recent years, again resulted in mutterings about the action going against the ‘spirit of cricket’. The dismissal, which is allowed for under the game’s Laws, involved Newcomb and District Cricket Club bowler Josh Buckle running out Newtown and Chilwell batsman Allan Smith, a 58-year-old visiting English player, in a 40-over match played at Geelong’s Eastern Park.

Smith’s side were 3/24 at the time in pursuit of 331 for victory when Buckle removed the bails at the bowler's end with Smith short of his ground. Buckle appealed and the umpire raised his finger to confirm Smith's dismissal. Newtown and Chilwell captain, Neville Crane, who was batting with Smith at the time, said he’s never seen the dismissal in 62 years of playing cricket. “I was just so shocked and disappointed.”

Crane, 70, said, he “thought about walking off, but then I thought it would be stooping to that sort of level.” “I’ve been playing since I was eight and in all that time I have never seen a ‘Mankad'. That says something. I had to tell [Englishman Smith] that that is not the way Australians play their sport. We had absolutely no chance of winning the game so when it happened I just turned to their captain and said ‘why would you want to do that?’ I think their players were as shocked as we were.”

Mankads, which continue to result in controversy, have been in the news in recent weeks, the West Indies used it during their campaign at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, while, in another incifent, Oman bowler Aamir Kaleem was labelled “cowardly” after Mankading a Hong Kong batsman in their Asia Cup qualifying match in Bangladesh.

(from Playing the Game, No. 1774-8855, 1st March, 2016)

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PLANNING FOR THE 2017 CROCKETT SHIELD – THE MISSION

CONTINUES

Mt Waverley Veterans v VCAUSA - Sunday, 14th February, 2016

Happy Valentine’s Day! Many of us risked life, limb and marriage by travelling to Mt Waverley Reserve to enjoy the hospitality of the Mt Waverley Cricket Club Veterans on a day when sensible husbands and partners were buying flowers and tending to home duties. We introduced some more debutants, Mick Nolan, Gaurav Bawa, and Sudhakar Balreddygari. John Richards and Rob Sturgeon turned out for the Veterans. The weather was perfect while the pitch was dry and breaking up. The captain, Alan McCarthy, won the toss and batted. Tony Ventura and Alan McCarthy took up umpiring duties and the batting was opened by Nick Ferns and Glenn Schache.

The Vics lost 2/1 in the first over as the ball moved and also kept low. Gaurav Bawa looked good with some nice off drives before falling for 11. Sudhakar Balreddygari fell soon after leaving us 4/21. Sahan Weerasekera and Mick Nolan put together a partnership of 15 before Sahan was bowled. Mick reached 11, striking the ball well on both sides of the wicket but became the third bat to have his stumps disturbed. At 6/40 in the 12th over things were looking very bleak. However, Jason Leonard-Scott and Scott Olufson fought back and got the measure of the bowlers, playing the ball straight and late as the wicket slowed up. Putting together a partnership of 67, they took us to 7/107 in the 33rd over. Only six boundaries were scored in our innings due to a lush outfield and some clever field placings with a sweeper on both the leg and off boundaries. Glenn Davey and Luke Edwards took our score to 123 with some enterprising running between the wickets. Rob Sturgeon and John Richards both starred in the field for the Veterans, cutting off a number of runs. With 3.5 an over required by the Veterans we would have to bowl very well to win.

As McCarthy took the gloves and Scott Olufson and Tony Ventura officiated, the Veterans started slowly. They kept out the excellent bowling of Glenn Davey and Luke Edwards as both got bounce and movement. A bowling change got results in the 9th over when Rod McKinnon had Raghaven leg before after he played back and swung across the line. With the Veterans 1/12 and behind the run rate there was an opportunity to rotate bowlers to keep the batsmen guessing and have a look at some of our debutants. Gaurav Bawa and Sudhakar Balreddygari bowled accurately causing Thompson for the Veterans to hit out, plastering a magnificent 6 straight down the ground. A move in the field saw Sahan Weerasekera take a great catch low to his left as he ran around from deep mid-on two balls later. With Thompson departing, the Veterans were 2/26 off 13 overs.

The steady bowling and at times brilliant fielding was forcing the Veterans to take more risks and wickets fell regularly. Nick Ferns snared his second and third wickets in two balls in his third over and the Veterans were 6/65 off 24 overs. Nick’s catch off his own bowling showed his agility as he got both hands to a low drive right at his feet in his follow through. Nick and Stephen Pitts both fielded brilliantly all day cutting off lots of runs in the gully.

When Mick Nolan was introduced he continued the accurate attack on the stumps and picked up two wickets, both bowled. At 8/71 off 26 overs the scales were tilting in favour of the VCAUSA. John Richards batted well for 12 but fell to Luke Edwards, playing a pull shot to a ball that kept a touch low on middle stump. John had hit one boundary which was the second, and last four, of their innings.

Sahan Weerasekera finished off the innings by enticing Goode to drive a catch straight at Mick Nolan. Rob Sturgeon kept a few balls out and finished 0 not out.

Volume 22 Number 6 2015-2016 Page 13

Radi Bowled Nolan 10 Raghaven LBW McKinnon 7 Thompson C. Weeresekera Balreddygari 9 Halge Bowled Ferns 6 Foran Bowled Nolan 12 Mattingley LBW Ferns 17 Stockdale C & B Ferns 0 Richards Bowled Edwards 12 Bpyle Bowled Bawa 0 Goode C. Nolan Weerasekera 5 Sturgeon Not Out 0 Extras (3b, 2lb, 0nb, 1w) 6 Overs 31.3 Total 10/84

Bowler Ovs Mdns Runs Wkts Davey 4 0 5 0 Edwards 4 2 3 1 McKinnon 3 0 8 1 Bawa 4 1 3 1 Balreddygari 2 0 11 1 Nolan 4 0 6 2 Pitts 4 0 16 0 Ferns 4 0 18 3 Weeresekera 2.3 0 9 1

Our bowling and fielding were terrific all day and every bowler performed well. Our batting needs to be steadier in the early overs and we need to find a solid opening pair. It was heartening to see the “Great Scotts” – Leonard-Scott and Olufson, strike the ball well and bat in partnership. Any score over 100 was going to give us something to bowl at and make a contest of the match and that is how it turned out. The Veterans were all out for 84 in the 32nd over.

Our players of the match were Jason Leonard-Scott with 33, Scott Olufson - 23, Nick Ferns - 3/18 and Mick Nolan 11 runs, 2/6 and a catch. Alan Britton, Monash Tiger’s 2nd XI scorer, again tended to our book and Dan Bomford joined us after completing his own umpiring appointment.

We enjoyed a sausage sizzle and drinks and planned with the Veterans for two matches next season, one in October and another in February. We are indebted to Rob Sturgeon and John Richards for arranging the match and we thank the Mt Waverley Cricket Club Veterans for their lunch and hospitality. Many players have already put their hands up to play in Adelaide in 2017 and some have even started to look at accommodation options for the week following the Crocket Shield weekend.

Alan McCarthy

Match Scorecard

VCAUSA BATTING MWCCV BOWLING Ferns Bowled Mattingley 0 Schache Caught Mattingley 0 Bawa Caught Mattingley 11 Balreddygari Run Out 3 Nolan Bowled Foran 11 Weerasekera Bowled Stockdale 8 Leonard-Scott Retired Out 33 Olufson Bowled Stiockdale 23 Pitts Run Out 2 Davey Not Out 10 Edwards Not Out 3 Extras (6b, 4lb 3nb, 6w) 19 Overs 35 Total 8/123 MWCCV BATTING VCAUSA BOWLING

Bowler Ovs Mdns Runs Wkts Mattingley 4 0 15 3 Venus 4 0 19 0 Foran 5 0 13 1 Stockdale 4 0 15 2 Halge 3 1 8 0 Richards 4 2 3 0 Raghaven 4 0 10 0 Sturgeon 1 0 13 0 Goode 3 0 9 0 Boyle 3 1 8 0

Volume 22 Number 6 2015-2016 Page 14

MACCA’S BOOK REVIEW

Test of Time – John Lazenby (John Murray, London, 2005) ISBN 0 7195 6651 7

John Lazenby was a Fleet Street sports journalist at the time of his writing this particular book and, for the most part, covered rugby union and cricket for national newspapers, including The Times, the Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph. His motivation for this book which relates the story of the tour of Australia by Andrew E. Stoddart’s England team in 1897-98 to defend The Ashes, was his discovery, some years earlier, of an old leather cricket bag among the clutter in the dusty rafters of his parents’ garage. The faded blazer, scuffed, heavy ball and linseed-scented bat that he unearthed may not have meant much to him at the time. But decades later, the discovery of a box of letters written by Lazenby’s grandfather, the Kent and England cricketer, Jack R. Mason, while on a boat to Australia for the 1897-98 Ashes tour, inspired John Lazenby to retrace the journey to Australia taken by his grandfather with Stoddart’s team.

His tour was a cricketing pilgrimage and a voyage of discovery, as he passed through both Australian cities and remote towns his grandfather had visited more than one hundred years previously. Ashes tours were quite different then to what we know them to be today. Visiting English tams were hosted by well-to-do cricketing enthusiasts, with matches being played not only in major cities but also in remote country locations, such as Glen Innes in New South Wales or Stawell and Swan Hill in Victoria.

During Lazenby’s travels, he made surprising discoveries, not only tracking down memorabilia from the 19th century tour but unearthing a wealth of anecdotes that have transformed what could have been a travelogue into an unexpected treasure hunt. As his findings multiply, so the scope of the narrative grows to encompass not only Grandfather Mason and his team-mates, but also a wider insight into aspects of the cricketing lifestyle of the Victorian period, in both Australia and England.

For example, it was not surprising to read how Jack Mason’s cricket career came to a rather abrupt conclusion, following the 1897-98 Australian tour, when in only his late twenties, and notwithstanding a quite successful tour and excellent future prospects as a cricketer for Kent and England, he was obliged to retire from the game and join his father’s London business.

For the record, the playing statistics for the thirteen members the 1897-98 tour are listed at the end of Chapter 12 and for Jack Mason these were as follows:

Test Matches:

Batting Bowling

Inns 10 Runs 129 HS 32 N.O. 0 Avg 12.90 Ovs 52 Mdns 13 Runs 149 Wkts 2 Avg 74.5

Eleven-A-Side Matches:

Batting Bowling

Inns 21 Runs 514 HS 128* N.O. 1 Avg 25.70 Ovs 181.1 Mdns 48 Runs 502 Wkts 20 Avg 25.10

In a final Chapter entitled “Epilogue”, Lazenby traces the brief histories of each of the 13 members of Stoddart’s team. As for Stoddart himself whose death in April, 1915 was recorded as ‘suicide while of unsound mind’, the fates for a number of his team-mates did not prove kind. But for Jack Mason whose only five Test Match appearances were those in Australia, ‘his career was brilliant, if comparatively brief’ wrote Wisden, and he outlived all of his colleagues, dying at the age of 84.

Trevor Finlayson

Volume 22 Number 6 2015-2016 Page 15

Volume 22 Number 6 2015-2016 Page 16

VCAUSA CALENDAR

The ongoing VCAUSA calendar as far as is known at this stage is as follows:

Date Activity Notes Tuesday, 8 March, 7:00 pm

CV T&D Meeting (Finals Umpires only)

CV, Jolimont

Saturday, 26 March VCAUSA Finals BBQ Tent Junction Oval Friday, 22 April VCAUSA Dinner &

Presentation Night Veneto Club, Bulleen

10-13 June Joint VCAUSA/SACUSA CoMs Meeting

Penola, South Australia

Tuesday, 16 August, 7:30 pm

VCAUSA Annual General Meeting

CV, Jolimont

Friday, 14 – Monday, 17 April, 2017

VCAUSA/SACUSA Easter Event in Adelaide

Including Crockett Shield Match, Saturday, 15 April, 2017

An Ideal Gift for You or Your Friends The VCAUSA has recently purchased a stock of embroidered, new style, polo shirts. Made from 100% lightweight polyester, they are now available for purchase in sizes S, M, L, XL and XXL. The member cost is only $35. Anyone interested should contact Glenn Cumming (glenn.cumming@gmail.com) while stocks are still available.

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Special Note – Easter, 2017

In the VCAUSA calendar above, you will note the joint VCAUSA/SACUSA CoMs Meeting, to be held in Penola over Queen’s Birthday Weekend in June, 2016. The purpose of this meeting is the planning for the next VCAUSA/SACUSA Easter Event which will be held in Adelaide over Easter, 2017. Should any reader have suggestions for this event, which may be thoughts on how the event might be improved or even criticisms on how the event has been run in the past, please make your thoughts known to any member of the VCAUSA Committee of Management. (See p. 2 for details.)

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