Thailand’s Umpires Take Center Stage

It is often Thailand’s talented young cricketers who make the headlines with their ability on the field but it was the turn of the some of the country’s leading umpires to demonstrate their talents when the Cricket Association of Thailand staged two three-day umpires’ courses first in Chiang Mai and then in Phuket.

David Walker, well known for his role as tournament director at the Asian Cricket Council tournaments regularly staged in Chiang Mai, is also one of Thailand’s best qualified umpires. He has recently returned from Malaysia where he successfully trained to become an umpire educator under the expert tutelage of former international umpires Peter Manuel and KT Francis from Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s Mehboob Shah, so he is now able to pass on his knowledge to inexperienced umpires and hold training courses in his own right. In the same way that successful training courses have been held for players and coaches, the first umpiring course held in Chiang Mai at the beginning of August was made available to anyone who was interested in advancing their skills. All ten trainee umpires from Bangkok and Chiang Mai benefited greatly from discussing the laws of cricket over the three days, everybody learning something new no matter how long they had been involved in cricket.

David Walker, assisted by CAT chief executive, the tireless Mohideen Kader, used power point and video technology to explain the finer points of the laws, and held a workshop on the techniques of good umpiring as described by Darrell Hair, one of the world’s most knowledgeable umpires.Laws covered included dead ball, obstructing the field, fair play and the Spirit of Cricket, while techniques discussed were preparation, team work, concentration, coping with pressure and earning the respect of players. Let the players play the game and always umpire with common sense. Rain had fallen heavily in Chiang Mai for the first two days of the course held inside the classroom, so all involved were very thankful when skies cleared on the Sunday morning to allow the practical examination to take place.

The final stage of the course was the written exam as the trainee umpires took their first steps on the road to standing in international cricket. The best of the umpires from the course in Chiang Mai and a similar one held in Phuket at the end of August will move on to ACC Level 1 and Level 2 umpiring courses which could give them the priceless opportunity to stand in ACC and ICC international tournaments in the future.Not everyone on the courses will have aspirations to become fully fledged international umpires, but those who prefer to stand or coach at junior levels, or contribute to the game in Thailand in other ways, have all learnt something on the two courses as likeminded people gathered to discuss the finer points of cricket.

Even well known international players such as Kevin Pietersen (dead ball), then Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara (no ball ending a match) have recently admitted they don’t fully understand the finer points of the laws; and the end of the English T20 final finished in chaos with the injured striker and his substitute runner both setting off for a run. All this was covered in the courses so the aspiring Thai umpires would have dealt with these situations with ease.The CAT can be applauded on staging these enjoyable courses and will hope to see improving standards on the field both from umpires and players. Thailand’s emerging cricketers will benefit greatly from playing in front of highly trained officials.Chiang Mai teacher Worawut Suttajit who has translated the laws of cricket into the Thai language also attended the umpire educators course in Malaysia and there are plans afoot for him to hold a course explaining the basics of cricket to Thai sports teachers from schools in and around Chiang Mai. This initiative will help yet more children to take part in the ‘sawas dee’ cricket that has started off the careers of so many promising Thai youngsters in recent years.