Too much of unwarranted appealing nowadays

School Cricket review by Premasara Epasinghe

Friday 27, February 1998


In a game of cricket, an appeal means to ask the umpire to declare a batsman out or to give some other decision. For example, we can say ``the whole side appealed for a catch,'' or ``the captain appealed against light'' i.e. when the light was not good enough for the game to continue. When comparing cricket to other games, the players have the unique right to appeal against the opposing batsman or question the umpire, whereas in other outdoor games like soccer, hockey, rugby, football, tennis, badminton etc or indoor games like table-tennis, boxing or wrestling etc, the players have no authority or right to appeal against the referee or question him. Therefore, as far as cricket is concerned, shall we say, that its more democratic than other sports. But,just because you have the right to appeal in a game of cricket, you must not appeal to each and everything.

It is sad to note that in today's context, cricket be it at school, club or national level, the tendency of unwarranted appealing has become the order of the day. It is very important that coaches and matters take note of this and stop this malady which is growing at school level.

In some inter-school cricket matches that I witnessed I noticed that some players appeal just for the sake of appealing. Sometime, the fielders stationed at fine leg, deep third man, point or extra-cover ask the question from the umpire for leg-before wicket (LBW), which is ridiculous, and shows how ignorant the players are. It is only reasonable, a fielder in front of the wicket - the bowler and the wicket-keeper, appeal for a leg before wicket decision.

I think, application, dedication, concentration and complete impartiality are some important, necessary qualities that makes a successful umpire. An umpire must be able to remain calm under pressure. All cricketers and the cricket-loving public, must remember one fact. Umpires are bound to make mistakes. That's part of human nature. In all cases, as you are aware, umpires have to give the advantage to batsmen, if the umpire is anything less than hundred percent certain. If a batsman is ruled out, there must never be any doubt at all in the umpires' mind. So, its nothing but fair that you must honourably agree with the umpire's decisions. Glancing through Harold Dickie Bird's (the best known umpire in the world in recent years) book ``That's Out'', he writes that it would be a sad day if electronic aids were introduced to complement the powers of the umpires. Dickie Bird further states that he frankly just cannot see how such aids would help with LBW decisions or for instance, bat-and-pad catches. In case of LBW's, there are so many things to consider, like the movement of the ball of the seam or through the air and the point of impact. Electronics might help with close run-outs, but that is virtually all, adds Dickie Bird. This is food for thought for all of us.

Royal - Cambrians

Royal registered a thrilling ten-wicket win over Prince of Wales with four balls to spare. This is incidently the first win for Royal in the current inter-school season. The Cambrians were shot out for 125 in their first innings with Umesh Gunawardane capturing 4 wickets for 54 runs. Royal in reply scored 301 for 8 wickets with their consistent run-getter Jehan Mubrak missing his century by 8 runs. Thushan Amarasuriya scored a well compiled 66 runs. In their second innings Cambrians scored 188 runs. Indunil Hithetiya (36) and Chirantha Perera (34) batted well for the Moratuwa lads.

Ananda - St. Benedicts

Ananda College continued their winning spree when they trounced St. Benedicts' College by 10 wickets. The architect of Ananda Victory was Akalanka Ganegama who troubled the Benedictines by capturing seven wickets for 57 runs in the second innings.

Presidents College Rajagiriya - Raddoluwa MV

In an inter-school cricket match played at the Katunayake Air Force ground, Raddoluwa MV beat Presidents College, Rajagiriya, by 148 runs. Raddoluwa MV scored 171 and 130 for 6 respectively. President's College scored 103 and in the second innings were bundled out for a paltry 50 runs. W. Pannilawitha had a match bag of 8 for 47 runs. In batting Raddoluwa MV batsman Chamra Delpachitra, scored 57 runs.

St Josephs - St. Anthonys Katugastota

Batsman dominated the Josephian Antonian inter-school match with both sides scoring 594 runs for 13 wickets.

Trinity - S' Thomas MTL

Trinity - S'Thomas encounter ended in a tame draw at Mount Lavinia. Upeka Fernando, the Thomian skipper scored 72 runs. Janaka Siriwardane batted well for his 48 runs and paceman N. Ratwatte bowled well for the Thomians capturing 4 wickets for 14 runs.

Moratuwa MV - St. Thomas Matale

The highlight of the drawn game between St. Thomas Matale and Moratu Vidyalaya was the century scored by O. Warnapura. For the Matale Thomians, Nirmal Jayasinghe and R. Chandraratne scored half centuries.

Wesley - St. Sebestians

In a thrilling match, time saved Wesley, when they had a close call. St. Sebestians' bowlers dominated the proceedings in Wesley's second innings and they were 80 for 8 wickets when stumps were drawn.

St. Sylvesters - Kingswood

Up in the hills the St. Sylvesters' - Kingswood inter-school cricket match played at Peradeniya ended in a draw. The notable feature of this match was the century scored by Kingswoodian N. Rupasinghe.

Holy-cross Kalutara - Rewatha Balapitiya

In the tenth outing this season, Holy Cross Kalutara recorded their sixth win, which is undoubtedly a very creditable achievement. They humbled Rewatha MV Balapitiya by 8 wickets.

A century by Sarath Payoe (117) and a fine all-round performance by skipper Chaminda Ruwan (75 mins and a match bag of 6 for 91) helped Holy Cross to record this win. for Rewatha MV, L. de Silva bowled well capturing five wickets for 105 runs.


Source: The Daily News

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Date-stamped : 27 Feb1998 - 15:15