Dream Come True

In the journey of umpiring, it was another small step. This Thursday, i.e. May 13, 2010, I was appointed to umpire the game between Belgium and Germany. This was the first international game of my umpiring journey. Though this was just a friendly game and did not have an official status, the teams competing were the national sides of the respective countries. In fact were not allowed to call this a Belgium v Germany game. So it was called Belgium XI v German Selection. This was my first opportunity to umpire at this level. I never ever imagined in my wildest dream that I would ever umpire a game between national sides so soon (I have started umpiring only in 2008). Though I have umpired only one season (2008) in Belgium (I missed completely 2009 in Belgium though I did 4 games in India), I am happy that my efforts had been recognized and I had been given this opportunity. This is indeed no way close to what I have to achieve as an umpire, but this small step would definitely go down as a highlight of my umpiring journey (Note, I am still not calling it a career).

May 13 was a holiday in Belgium, so that made it is easy for me. I did not have to convince my manager for a leave. I decided the night before that I will have a good sleep, so that I wake up fresh. When I was going to my bed, I knew deep in my heart if something that could spoil my chance of making an international debut, it was the Belgian weather. True to its reputation, the weather did not disappoint me. Indeed when I woke up the next day, it was raining, though not heavily (which again is typical of Belgium). It was too early in the day (7 am), I knew it could change anytime in the coming hours. It could get better or even worse. Since that was not in my control, I did not bother about it much. I finished my daily chores. Then I went through the regulation of the game once again.

The game was supposed to start at 12:30 pm. It was 50 overs game. Scotty was giving me a ride today to Rumst (where the game was to be played). We decided to meet at our usual meeting point, i.e. the airport at 11:00 am. I left my house at 10:00 am. It was still drizzling. We reached the ground at 11:30 am. Still it was drizzling. Peter, my colleague for the day was already there. BCF officials were also there. Some Belgian players were already busy with their warm ups. German team had not arrived yet.

I helped Marc Vandereviere (official scorer of Belgium) and Sheel Shukla (Manager, Belgium Team) in marking the inner circles. During this time, I observed that the ground was still very wet. I was still not sure if we would be able to start the game on time. Deep in my heart I did not want a truncated game. First international game being a truncated game would not suit the bill.

By 11:45 am, we saw that the German team also arrived clad in red tracks. Soon they took to the field starting their drills. Very similar to the Belgian team, the German team also had majority of people from Indian and Pakistani origin. The only difference was that the Belgian team had more number of Pakistani origins and German team had more number of Indian origin people.
Since the start of the game was 12:30 pm, the toss should happen between 12:00 no0n and 12:15 pm. We were still not sure if we would be able to start at 12:30, considering the drizzling that was still in progress. Very typical of Belgian weather, the drizzling stopped, and we diced to go for the toss at 12:15 pm. Belgium XI won the toss and elected to bat first. This was a very practical decision considering that the ground was wet. No captain would like to field under this conditions.

As an umpire we had to asses the fitness of the ground to play the game. Though the ground was wet, it was still not dangerous not to play. Moreover we did not want to waste any time that we got in between the rain. So we started the game at 12:30 pm as scheduled. My first game at this level and I had goofed up. I forgot to take the match ball to the field and that created a bit of confusion to begin with. Since the ground was wet, German captain James suggested that he would prefer to change the ball after 25 overs. The ball would be replaced by a dry old ball. Belgian captain Javed agreed.

The bowlers were finding it really hard to grip the surface and as a result, they leaked to many extras. This helped the Belgian openers to settle down without taking much risk. The score went to 42 in just 6 overs when German had their first breakthrough. After this fall of wicket, the scoring slowed and by end if 17th over, Belgians were 86/4. We thought that there was an early finish on the cards. I was very un happy as, being my first international, I wanted a full 100 overs game. At this point of time, the captain Javed Iqbal joined Shahid Ahmed and began the consolidation. It was very evident from their batting that they wanted to stay their as long as they could. This resulted in severla maiden overs in between and scoring rate fell drastically. The bowlers (especially Tarun and Kashif) were bowling in good lines, but were not able to break this partnership. This was resulting in some sort of frustration among them. The sledging was in full flow. It was not agrressive but continuous. Moreover it was in Hindi and I could understand everything that was going on. It was really amusing. The partnership had streched from 18th over till 38th over without taking any risk. First sign of agression came when Tarun was hit outside the park on the last ball of 39th over. From then on, the scoring rate galloped. Every bowler bleeded runs. Captain was tempted to make a bowling changes and introduce Rishi in 41st over. Even his last ball went for a six. In the meantime both Javed and Shahid had reached their half centuries and the partnership had grown to 131. In 43rd over, Rishi produced the ball, that each German was waiting for. Shahid was finally out caught but the damage was already done. Belgium XI were 217 for 6 now. Soon Javed also departed and Belgian Team finally were bowled out in the last over and the target set to German Selection was 256. Rishi ended up with 4 wickets in as many overs. German captain must be wondering, why he did not make him bowl in the beginning.

After a break of 45 mins, the German selection started their chase of 256, which by no means was a small target. Moreover, the rain had stopped and it would be far more easier for the bowlers to bowl. Germans began their chase slowly and they were definitely not helped by the disciplined bowling from Shar Khan and Shalin. In the 6th over Shalin gave them a double jolt and they were 26/2. Germans were in no mood to surrender after this double jolt, so they put their heads down and looked for a partnershipscoring in singles, doubles and occasional boundaries. Belgian bowling also did not give them many chances to score freely. Then finally the defence of Germans were broken and the third wicket fell in 21st over. The score was 82. At this stage, Germans were still in the chase. But soon Belgian captain shuffeled with their bowlers and that gave results. The scoring rate dropped and Germans started losing wickets in regular intervals. In spite of the regular fall of wickets, their innings lasted till 42nd over when their 9th wicket fell at a score of 155. At this point of time, the German Selection decided to call it off as their last batsman was injured and they declared the innings over. The game ended in a very unusual way. My first international game was over. It was a releif. It was almost a complete game. Rain luckily did not play a spoil sport, at least in terms of interupting the game. To be very honest, I was very disappointed by the quality of the game. Germany is in a division higher than Belgium, but the way the game progressed (apart from the first 20 overs), it looked the other way round. The level of game was very much comparable to the division 1 games in Belgian League. So there was nothing special.

At least for the name sake I had done an international game. The level in no way is near to the normal ODI games. I am waiting to see how far I progress in this path. It is a tough ask and lot of perseverance is needed. Hope I am able to put all the hard work required and keep myself motivated.

My first league game of the season

The Belgiun Cricket League started yesterday (i.e. May 9). There were seven games played yesterday. I too got my first game yesterday. Considering the number of umpires available, it was not a surprise that I got a game. It was a Division 1 game between Oostende CC and PCCB Greens. This was the first game that I was umpiring for the Oostende CC. It was a home game for Oostende, so I had to once again go to Oostende. This was my third trip to Oostende in four weeks. My colleague for the day was Peter.

Peter picked me up from Oostende station. We reached the ground at 12 noon, a good one and a half hour before the scheduled start of the game which was 1:30 pm. The weather was pretty cold but fortunately for us it was still dry. The most surpising part was that some players were already present on the ground. These were the players from Greens. The home team arrived around 12:30 pm. They started with the preparation of the ground. We supervised the markings of the boundary and the marking of the inner circles.

We took the team list. Each team had nominated 12 players. We did the toss at 1 pm. Oostende won the toss and elected to bat. It was 45 overs game and scheduled to end at 8 pm in the evening. We started the game at 1:25 pm. I started at the striker's end. It was a slow start. Within few minutes of the start one of the opening batsman twisted his anle and the game had to be stopped for approximately three minutes. At the end of 5 overs Oostende were 21/2 including a suicidal runout (not at my end).

Later, the period of consolidation began and at 13th over Oostende were 54/2. At this point of time batsmen decided for a quick single. I was at the striker's end and the ball hit the wickets directly (at least that is what I assumed). The wicket keeper had covered the wickets completely, so I could not see what happened. I just heard the sound of wicket being put down and at this point of time the bat was in air and based on this I raised the finger to give the batsman out. Retrospectively I think I should have asked Peter, if indeed the wicket was put down fairly. These are the things that I should work on and improve. Needless to say, the batsman was disappointed. In his opinion he had made his ground but he never realized that his bat was in the air.

Period of another consolidation started and Oostende were now 87/3. I was at bowling end and Waqas was the bowler. He was bowling left arm over, medium pace. After a patchy first over, he had got into a rythem. He was pitching in right areas. Somehow I had always found it difficult to judge the trajectory of the bowl whenever a left arm bowler is bowling, especially over the wicket. I find it difficult to follow the bowl as soon as I have seen his front foot. As I knew that this was an area where I had to improve, I was concentrating hard. This bowl from him pitched in line between middle and leg and was going straight, the batsman tried to shuffle towards the off side and flick this ball towards the fine leg. He missed it completely and ball hit his backfoot. There was an appeal and I had no hesitation in giving him out. The height was perfect and the ball would have hit the stumps.

By the end of 23 rd over, half of the home team were back in pavilion. Waqas started the 24 th over. I was at the bowler's end. The ball pitched on middle and was moving towards the off. The batsman wanted to glide it towards the third man missed it completely and the ball crashed into the off stump. I was stunned. I must confess, had the ball hit his pads, I would have never given it as LBW. Oh God, there are lot is things that I need to improve on.

Waqas had set the tone for the Greens and Oostende were packed up in 33rd over for a score of 151. The only savind grace was the last wicket partnership of some 20+ runs. Waqas finished with 5 wickets (3 bowled and 2 LBWs). Myself and Peter had score of 151 but the scores had 150, so we decided that the target was 151.

The innings ended 3:45 pm, 45 minutes before the scheduled time. So as per the regulations, we had to take a 10 mins break.

The run chase began at 3:55 pm. This time too I started at striker's end. It was not the kind of start that the home team wanted, defending a total of 150. They conceded 11 runs in the first over. It was a run fest at display. Greens raced to 76/0 in 8 overs when I had to call it TIME for the lunch break (we call it Tea break here). There were lots of extras bowled during this period, which did not help Oostende at all. With half the score already being scored, an early finish was on the cards. The lunch started at 4:35 pm. It would be a half an hour break.

We resumed play at 5:05 pm. As after every break, a wicket fell for the visitors in 10th over. The score was 89/1. The new batsman at crease was the hero with the ball, Waqas. As expected, the scoring rate dropped with this wicket. In the 12th over, when I was at bowling end, the bowler was bowling right arm round the wicket, the ball pitched outside the leg and there was no movement, it wend straight and just behind the batsman (in my opinion). The keeper missed it. The batsman took a single. I called it wide. The keeper and bowler reckoned that it had hit back of the pad, which in my opinion did not. Batsman also confirmed that it did not (though we cannot take his word as he was at the advantage). I was pretty sure that it did not hit the pad but I think I have to be more careful in such things.

At 15th over another wicket fell and Greens were 114/2, still no reasons for them to panic. In 20th over, when I was at the bowler's end, the batsman hit the ball towards the square leg, they wanted to take single but finally decided against it. The fielder at bowler's end threw the ball to the bowler. Since the batsman had decided against the run, the bowler was relaxed and did not collect the ball. As soon as the ball went past him, the batsman took a single. The keeper objected to this stating that the ball was dead. The bowler argued that he was walking towards the run-up assuming the ball is dead and hence he did not collect the ball. In my opinion, the ball was in play and to have a second opinion I glanced towards Peter and he confirmed by nod of his head. I stuck to my decision of not calling the ball dead. The run was counted.

Greens wrapped up the game in style, finishing it in 23 rd over itself. The game finished at 6 pm, 2 hours in advance of the scheduled time. It was a disappointing performance from the host. It was not the quality one would expect for a Division 1 game. Peter and myself waited for the scoresheet to be filled. We signed it and left for the day.

My first game of the season was over. It was a releif. I was also happy that it finished soon.

School Tournament 2010

Today was a special day. I was called to umpire in the School Tournament organized by Belgian Cricket Federation. I was not sure what to expect from this. I accepted it as it was a weekend and I had nothing else to do.

I received the rules for the tournament from Scotty yesterday. The rules are given below for your reference.

o Each team has an inning of 8 overs (all overs will be fully bowled, even if the second batting team has scored the necessary runs)
o The score of each inning starts with 100 runs – this score can go up (scored runs) or down (lost wickets)
o Every team consists of 8 players; they play in 4 pairs of 2
o Each pair bats 2 overs – the team tries to switch pairs as fast as possible
o All overs are to be bowled from the same end (keeper/bowler do not change ends).
o Each player can only be out by being: bowled, caught, stumped, run out, hit wicket, hit the ball twice (no lbw)
o Each out means a (-5) score; the player who is out is not playing for the next ball (unless the next rule is applying)
o Each player has his turn at the first ball of one over.
o Each over is 6 balls; wides & no-balls = 2extras, no extra ball, except the last ball of the inning (extra ball, but only one extra run)
o The bowler can bowl “over-arm” or “under-arm”; “No-Ball” is called if the ball bounces more than twice; if the ball rolls the umpire shall shout “dead ball”.
o Each bowler cannot bowl more than 2 overs for each inning.
o For the group tournaments: a win (2 points), a tie (1 point)If there is a tie in the final game: then there is a bowl-out (6 balls to the unguarded stumps, there must be 6 different bowlers; the ball can bounce a maximum of twice)

I reached the ground at 10 am. Already couple of games had already started. already there were three umpires (Scotty,Richard and peter) present. Only after reaching the ground, I realized the purpose of this tournament. Cricket is not popular in Belgium. This was an attempt to teach the young kids in the age group of 10-12 years about the game through a formal competition. Already a lot of ground work had been done by the Belgian head coach Fazil Mahmoud. He had visited several schools to have sessions with these kids and their sports teacher, to introduce them to the game. Today was a stage for them to test their learnings and at the same time enjoy a day out. So this was no way a conventional game of cricket but cricket mixed with fun and education. So as an umpire, just umpiring was not the main task but our responsibility included facilitating and guiding the game. For me it was a good opportunity to test my coaching skills, as this was the first time I was being formally involved with people who were not aware of the game of cricket. Since I have also done a course on Cricket coaching, this was an interesting exercise for me.

There were two schools, one from Leuven and one for Lier where majority of the team members were girls. It was very encouraging to see that even girls were interested in the game. It would be really interesting to see how many of these girls take up this sport and pursue it for a long duration. It was long time that I saw girls playing cricket (I mean live). The last time that I remember I saw a girl playing cricket was, when I was in school. It was my house vice captain, who played with us, because we were short of players. This was almost 20 years ago. I do not include the Dutch lady cricketer who was with us in the coaching course as it was just a course and not an actual game.

When I reached, already two games had started and third one was about to begin. All these games had an umpire but only two of them had scorers. I went to the third game where Scotty was umpiring. I waited for the first inning to get over and took over the scoring from Scotty. It was a challenge. The score sheet was a customised one for the tournament. Quickly, I learned the nuances of the scoring and succesfully did it during the innings.

The first game that I umpired was between Mols 1 and Leuven. Leuven had 5 girls and 2 guys all in the age group of 10-12 years. So they were 1 player short. Mols 1 was definitely a better team as there were coupel of Indian kids and they had better exposure to cricket than the other Belgian kids. So this was not an even game. Only couple of guys from Mols 1 could bowl over arm. Rest were bowling under arm and there were lot of wides. The batting of Leuven was not that good and it was expected. But since they did not have very good understanding of the game, they ran themselves out quite a few times. So this made their score go below 100 (see the rules above). When it came to bowling, again none of the bowlers from Leuven could bowl with the bowling action. They too conceded too many wides and easy balls for the Mols 1 to hit boundaries. But the energy these girls (and the guys in the team) had was tremendous and they enjoyed the game very much. Obviously, they lost the game but they were good in their spirit.

The next game that I umpired was between Leuven and Lier. This was an exciting game. But for now I think I have written enough. I will give you more details in the future posts. Tomorrow i.e. May 9, I have my first league game of the season. I have to brush up the league regulations. Also I have to go out for dinner. So until my next post goodbye.