Help with Beamers and Bouncers

[wisden17]

I quite like P8 & P9. They are simple and clear, the advantage of P8 is it shows your colleague has looked and judged it not to be above waist-height, the disadvantage of P7 is that if there is no signal you don't know if that is because your colleague wasn't really looking/paying attention, or whether it was because the ball was fair.

That said, P7 is simple to understand, and also if you're standing with a new colleague easy to ask them to do.

Good page though Colin.

[Srinivasan A R]

There are plenty of good suggestions posted here for this very important aspect of the "team work" between the on-field umpires.

As many here, I normally agree with my partner to indicate a bouncer above the shoulder, when at the Square leg, if asked by the Bowler's end Umpire, we would touch the shoulder with the thumb and point the index finger towards the sky if the ball passes over the shoulder and if it passed the head, then touch the head the same way. In case of a beamer above the waist, run the hand over the waist and indicate a thumbs up or down, depending where you judge the ball would have been. For me this has always worked. The important aspect of this is to keep an eye contact with your partner always.

We also agree on other signals like touching the leg for a leg bye on the onside or tap the backside of the left hand with the right hand for balls played by the batsman on the leg side. We also decide on count of 4 balls showing two fingers and 5 balls showing the counter to each other. While at the sqaure leg, I also show the distance at which the batsman takes is stance outside the crease by spreading my hands. If just outside the crease, the hands are closer but if down the pitch then I spread it farther. This helps my partner at the bowler's end to note the distance of the impact of the ball during an appeal for LBW.

Once I have started doing these, I find I am able to concentrate on the game much better.

[Acumen]

Srinivasan

Could you please join the Board or send me your email address so that I can send you private messages?

I would very much appreciate it f yopu could send me some photographs of your signals to [e-mail] so that I can post them on the web site.

Thanks

[jaybee]

May 4, 2009 16:18:57 GMT Acumen said:

...signals that Striker's End Umpire can use to assist his colleague discretely but distinctly without frightening the batsman with pointing fingers?
...
www.acumenbooks.co.uk/signals
...

Srinivasan's suggestions are good but I think that the beamer/bumper signals could be a little more simple and a little less obtrusive.

• to indicate a ball at waist height or below: hold one arm pointing straight down in front of the body with fingers together and pointing down. (a variation of P9 and similar to an upside-down 'bye' signal)
  
• a ball above waist but below shoulder: hold one arm bent so that the forearm is horizontal midway across the chest with the palm facing the ground. (similar to illustration P8)
  
• a ball above shoulder height: as for the 'above waist' signal but with the palm held horizontal at nose level. (a bit like H2 but less obvious to the onlookers)
  
• above head height: place one hand on top of the head (similar to H6)

But always remember that, at the bowler's end it's your call!

On the question of counting the number of deliveries I think it best to avoid too many signals. One colleague simply trails a hand to one side with the index finger pointing outward to show that he thinks that there is just one delivery to go. He also tends to get miffed because I rarely refer to that signal, as I find it better to concentrate on what I'm doing than looking towards him for guidance!

[Acumen]

I am not surprised your colleague gets miffed if you do not look at him!

I agree it is your decision but you are supposed to be working as a team and the exchange of ragular glances after five balls is a very good way of cementing that relationship even if you do not feel the need of a count at that time.

It also makes it much easier if you need to glance over for something more serious.

He should also be keeping his eyes on what the bowler is doing behind your back!

As regards beamers and bouncers, I still think we only need two signals - guilty or innocent - indicating a selection of heights will only lead to confusion.

[missingleg]

For questions on height at the striker's end I simply run my hand horizontally across my body to show my partner where I saw it pased him. I prefer not to stick my hand out to signal no-ball to him because it's his decision and I am just a guide.

Similarly, if, at the bowler's end, my colleague signalled no-ball then my hands are tied. He may show that it's marginal or he may have a different interpretation of what constitutes waist height.

I always look to my partner a few times an over in case there's something we need to discreetly communicate about. I also find it helps to pass the image of working as a team. I always look for conformation on the fifth ball by sticking fingers out as I know it's more likely that mistakes in counting will be made if there's just one umpire counting. If we do disagree, then I can think about any no-balls/wides in the over or ask the scorers.

[Srinivasan A R]

The important part is to make eye contact with your partner. There are innumerable advantages of doing this. Mainly, it boosts your self-confidence while taking major decisions. It also helps to convey to the players that the Umpires work in unison. Very often, when the players note this, I find they never complain about the decisions or refer to your partner when they do not agree with your decision. Actually, making eye contact and just by a nod of the head can solve most problems. It is an art that, I suppose, all Umpires should learn to master.