Imagine gliding in a delicious off-cutter that is pitched to nail the top of off stump. Because you are arrogant, you have seven slips in and, as your peach of a delivery rightly confuses the batsman’s footing and hits the roll on his pad, every one of your fielders goes bananas. But there is a problem: you don’t have anyone manning the stumps to slowly lift the finger in true Billy Bowden style. This is sort of becoming a harsh reality for Shepparton’s cricketers, as Cricket Shepparton umpires’ president Garry Wood said umpiring shortages were part of an “ongoing saga” local cricket had faced for “many, many years”.The drama comes as Wood is again short on two umpires this weekend for finals matches in the Cricket Shepparton league.Wood said the main reason people could not umpire was they did not want official responsibilities.“We can’t get people to umpire cricket for many reasons, it’s quite common across all sports,” he said.“We’ll get by this week, but the issue is ongoing for umpiring in cricket generally.”Across all grades, Cricket Shepparton requires 16 umpires, but the association is one short, both in the D and E-grades.According to Wood, reporting time is just after 11 am, with the day to finish about 6 pm. “It’s perfect for cricket fanatics, umpiring gives you the best seat in the house,” he said.Accredited umpires will receive $140 for their efforts, whereas unaccredited volunteer umpires will receive $120 for a day’s work. ● If you can help, contact Garry Wood on 0448 311 077.
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