An Umpire’s Tale – How a Chance
Encounter Led to a Love of the Game
Howzat?
The familiar appeal cry is part of the fabric of cricket, as are
the people at whom these cries are directed. The men and
women in the middle, hats on and hands poised.
The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of an umpire is ‘an
official who watches a game or match closely to enforce the
rules and arbitrate on matters arising from the play’.
An apt description? Yes. A comprehensive representation of
what umpiring is all about? Not quite.
Ask any official and they will tell you there is much more to
being an umpire than the neat blurb implies. For example, the
motivations that push people to take up that spot in the middle.
For Yorkshire-based umpire Helen McGuire, it’s wonderfully
simple: ‘I just want to be a good servant to the game.’
Making the Leap into Cricket
In 2015, approximately 6800 umpires – including McGuire –
helped to ensure 158,000 matches were played across
the season.
The 51 year old is one of 19 panel officials in the Bradford
Premier League, which was formed in 1903 – and the sole
female representative.
A relative newcomer to the sport – she started umpiring in
2010 and was introduced to the game only a few years
before that – McGuire’s journey to Premier League umpire
began with a certain world-renowned former India batsman.
She hasn’t looked back since.
She explains: ‘I’ve never played cricket so my interest began
after being dragged along to watch a game as a space filler
when somebody dropped out. It was a Test match down in
Nottingham and there was this smashing little fella playing
called Sachin Tendulkar – I had never heard of him! He just
knocked the ball all over the place and I was utterly
fascinated.’
Following a move from Peterborough to Leeds, McGuire
became attached to a local cricket club as a social member
and her involvement grew from there. She became a familiar
face around the club and one weekend found herself moving
into unknown territory when the club captain came calling
with a request. The team’s scorer was no longer available and
McGuire was the obvious candidate to fill the gap.
‘I’d been hanging around and doing teas for everybody. The
captain turned to me and said “Helen, you’re quite a sensible
person, can you do it?” I thought “I’ll give it a go, then.” So I
started scoring and continued to score for a couple of seasons.
‘Then one morning the same captain told me they’d been let
down by the umpire and asked if I’d mind stepping in. I gave
it my best, went on a course and now here I am.’
Swift Development
That first club game was six years ago and McGuire has since
moved swiftly through the ranks, with plenty of support from
the ECB’s Association of Cricket Officials (ACO).
The ACO, which has nearly 8500 members, is the largest
body of cricket officials in the world and works to provide
training for scorers and umpires at a national, regional and
local level.
That training was integral to McGuire as she developed her
understanding of the game, and helped her in ‘appreciating
the cat and mouse of it all (the game)…the intrigue’.
McGuire says: ‘I want to do things properly and I want things
to be right so I joined the ACO journey. It is progressive, well
set out and a proper pathway.
Umpire Helen McGuire (right) learned her trade with
the help of the ECB's Association of Cricket Officials
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