A former park cricketer’s new career as an umpire has been cut short.
After 15 years, Belconnen Bulls’ fourth grade leg-spinner Adam finally retired at the end of the 2022/23 season, with the intention to become an umpire.
“I’m only in my mid-30s, so I figured I was still young enough to pursue an umpiring career. I spent six months attending the umpiring courses, studied the book of laws from cover to cover, and aced the exam first go. And I watched a lot of YouTube videos. Did you know Stephen Fry is an umpire?”
After all that preparation, Adam excitedly umpired his first grade game – a sixth grade one-day between Bruce and Evatt.
The game started well, with Adam correctly calling a couple of close LBWs, but all changed after the innings break.
“The Evatt opening bowlers quickly put the game away, so the fielders started to relax, s**t-talk each other, and the captain bowled some part-time bowlers, which everyone found hillarious,” said Adam. “All this nonsense reminded me of the fun I’d have with my old teammates. It actually made me a bit sad that I was missing out, because my co-umpire was a gazillion years old and didn’t say a word to me. I got a bit bored when the game stopped being a contest.”
With the game ending early, Adam killed some time by going to the ground’s nets and bowling some leggies. While he was rusty – having not bowled since February – he soon found rhythm.
“Some of the Evatt batters even had a hit and said my leggies were still good. The more I bowled, the more I started getting the bug back. If I’m going to be out there all day, I may as well be playing.”
Once he got home, Adam messaged his old Bulls captain, asking if he could come back.
“Macca gee’d me up about wanting to ‘unretire’, but he said I could turn up to training and see how we go. I’m not going to walk back into the fourths, but see how we go.”
With training on Thursday night, Adam is making plans to go to his local nets after work so he can hit the ground running.
“The umpiring was a fun idea, but I’m happy to be back playing the game I love. Whatever happens after that is a bonus.”
The Gurgler presents stories of the Park Cricketer, where we explore the lower reaches of the great game of cricket from the suburban ovals and rural grounds across Australia.
