Englishman Abroad

Throat infection sidelines Test umpire.

PTG Editor.

Saturday, 18 November 2017.

PTG 2305-11645.

On-field umpire Richard Kettleborough pulled out of the third day's play in the opening Test between India and Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.  The Englishman was replaced by the television umpire, the West Indies' Joel Wilson, who went on to the ground with Nigel Long at the start proceedings.  

A Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) official indicated that Kettleborough had been sidelined with a throat infection.  As a result fourth umpire Anil Chaudhary moved into the TV umpire spot while the CAB’s Binod Thakur, who is believed to be a club-level umpire in Bengal, was brought in as the fourth official. As yet there has been no indication how long it will before Kettleborough is able to return to the match.

It was a particularly hard day for both on-field umpires and Chaudhary for there were a total of eight reviews, six by Sri Lanka (three each while bowling and batting), and two by India (one each when batting and bowling).  Llong and Wilson both had four of their decisions referred, Wilson having two struck down and two upheld, and Llong three struck down (one of which was ‘umpire’s call) and one upheld.  One each of the referrals were for caught scenarios, and two of Llong's and three of Wilson’s for LBW.  

There was also a claim for some that India should have been awarded five runs for “fake fielding’ by Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal, however, the umpires did not see it that way. 

Englishman completes Indian exchange.

PTG Editor.

Sunday, 12 November 2017.

PTG 2300-11622.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Full List member Martin Saggers stood in two-match Ranji Trophy first class matches over the last month as part of the ECB’s on-going umpire exchange agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Saggers, 45, who went on exchange to the West Indies in January last year (PTG 1749-8714, 29 January 2016), first stood in a game in Mumbai between the home side and Tamil Nadu with BCCI umpire Virender Sharma who was in England on exchange in July last year, and then in the match between Maharashtra and Karnataka in Gahunje with Abhijit Deshmukh.  The two fixtures were his 101st and 102nd as a first class umpire.

Llong to reach 200th first class match mark in Kolkata Test.

PTG Editor.

Saturday, 4 November 2017.

PTG 2297-11607.

English umpire Nigel Llong will be standing in his 200th first class game when he takes the field in the opening match of the three-Test series between India and Sri Lanka in Kolkata on Thursday week.  Llong, 48, a former first class player who debuted as an umpire at that level in April 2000 and stood in his first Test in January 2008, will work during the series with Australian David Boon, countryman Richard Kettleborough and Joel Wilson of the West Indies, plus Indian members of the International Cricket Council’s second-tier International Umpires Panel (IUP).

Boon will oversee the series as match referee, while the three neutral umpires will each have two games on-field and one as the television umpire.  The two Englishmen will be on-field in Kolkata with Wilson the TV umpire, the West Indian standing with Kettleborough in Nagpur in the second Test, and Llong in the third in Delhi.  By series end Boon will have worked as the referee in 47 Tests, Llong 49 on-field and 23 as the television umpire (49/23), Kettleborough 47/18 and Wilson 7/6, the latter’s seven coming over the last two-and-a-half years.  Which Indian IUP members will work as fourth umpires during the series has not yet been announced.

Umpire's Fall

Former Aussie international umpire admits stealing cash.

Stephanie Gardiner.

Fairfax Media.

Tuesday, 24 October 2017.

PTG 228611557.

"Yep, you got me.”  That's what former Australian international umpire Darrell Hair told his managers at a bottle shop when they confronted him about stealing money from the till.

In the grip of gambling addiction, Hair was working at D'Aquino's Liquor in Orange, in central west New South Wales, nine years after ending his long and colourful career as an umpire (PTG 298-1569, 19 August 2008).  In what the magistrate called a "monumental fall from grace", Hair stole $A9,005.75 (£UK5,325) between late February and April this year.

Hair was fired from the shop in May when his bosses found CCTV footage of him taking money from the cash register and putting it in his pants pocket.  The 65-year-old pleaded guilty to one charge of embezzlement and one charge of stealing in Orange Local Court on Monday morning.  Prosecutors dropped another 43 charges.

"[Hair] stated that he had no excuse for his dishonesty and he had let his gambling get too far out of control during the early months of 2017 and failed to react to the signs that it was out of control”, according to a court document.  He made full admissions when interviewed by police.

"My client has been in the public eye for many years and this is a bit of a fall for him, to find himself before the court in these circumstances”, Hair's solicitor Andrew Rolfe said. "This is an aberration in the life of a man who, prior to this, had a lifetime of service to the community and to a sport that he loved”.

Magistrate Michael Allen said Hair's actions were a breach of trust, but noted Hair had repaid the stolen money, written letters of apology, and was in counselling for depression and addiction.  He sentenced Hair to an 18-month good behaviour bond, and did not record a conviction, stressing the law treats everyone the same way, regardless of public standing or privilege.

"There are some in our community, in particular on commercial radio, who speak with loud voices for justice to be stern and unrelenting”, Allen said.  "But that would undermine what it sets out to achieve”.  The Magistrate said gambling ads were everywhere, and gambling addiction was "no less real than an addiction to drugs ... or alcohol” [and] it's a journey he will live with, and no doubt struggle with, on a daily basis for the rest of his life”.

In November 2011, Hair left his position as the Executive Officer of the New South Wales Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association, a body of which he was a Life Member, in circumstances that have never been explained publicly (PTG 862-4215, 18 November 2011).