Firstly the ECB issued directives in respect of bowling allocations - a decision with unlimited ramifications.
Then the ECB issued a recommendation in respect of helmets- a decision which is causing immense adminstrative problems.
Now the MCC - presumably to remind us all that they are still in charge of the laws of cricket - have produced The Spirit of Cricket as a preamble to the laws of the game.
As from October 1st 2000 an Umpire will be empowered to impose a 5 runs penalty for a variety of incidents such as time wasting, wilfully damaging the pitch, changing the condition of the ball and a deliberate attempt to distract or obstruct the batsman.

I know of some adult sides, who under these laws, will be able to declare without a ball being bowled, such is the vociferousness of the opposition!
In my early days if I did not get my bowling length right then my skipper would take me down the wicket and with his heel show me exactly where he wanted me to bowl the ball. FIVE RUNS!!!

Are all these changes impinging too much on the Umpire? The vast majority of our umpires stand for the love of the game. We have just held a friendly match between our County Under 14 and Under 15 teams. The Umpires, in addition, to keeping the laws of the game upheld had, in addition, to keep a check of the number of overs bowled by each bowler. They were forced to hold a mid wicket conference to decide if a boy bowling quickly,but with the wicket keeper standing up, could be considered to be a slow bowler and thus bowl additional overs.
They also had to enquire of the keeper whether his parents had signed a declaration to allow him to keep without a helmet.

Next Summer Umpires will take the field with the newly introduced laws empowering them to impose the 5 run penalty.
We are moving towards - in the adult game- a similar situation in which the Soccer referee is finding himself.
Young cricketers follow the example of their elders and betters on the field of play. Is it too much to hope that they recognise the over excessive appealing made in adult cricket is detrimental to the ethos of the game.
Several years ago the Sussex Schools Cricket Association were sufficiently concerned to introduce a code of conduct for Sussex Youth cricket. This code should be sufficient to ensure that young cricketers do not cause offence.( see Fixture brochure page 47)

Sadly,one well recalls(c1972) that when many members of the school teaching profession gave up taking football matches in the Brighton area on a Saturday morning, it was only a matter of months before the first school boy player was sent off the field of play.
It surely must be the concern of all involved in the game of cricket, that we do not ever see in a Sussex youth game, an Umpire using the new powers to award 5 additional runs .
TOP OF PAGE