Page 22 - SAFFER Magazine 01

Silly Me! you ask? Well, the regional hockey it’s just my pregnant friend and myself. A
umpires’ association had a monthly
few eyebrows are raised but the tutor is
meeting and we often asked umpires/
referees from other sports to give us a bit great and helps us find our feet. The next
week, 2 more of us attend and the guys
of insight into their world. One night this
By Inge Bevers cricket umpire turns up with 2 players are slightly surprised, but when female
number 5 attends from the 4th night
and says nothing when asked to start. He onwards, they’re completely thrown.
looks right, he looks
left, asks ‘may I speak’ Clearly a point of ‘do females play cricket
and off he goes telling and even if so, what are they doing
us about laws, spirit thinking they can do an umpires course’.
of the game and all When we all pass the exam, some of them
sorts of things. I start are horrified – we might decide to go and
following the game as umpire!
it is still on the Beeb
(BBC) and a couple of Three of us do – my friend is due in June
years later fall in love so she’s out for the season, but with 2
with an English umpire others I decide to do a few matches to
who plays cricket see what happens. The first match is with
in the summer. Still my friend’s father, Division 2 so nothing
not playing the game too frightening. All is well in the first
though. innings apart from me feeling completely
uncomfortable because of the lack of
When I decided to playing experience; I used to umpire top
retire from top hockey, men’s and women’s leagues of hockey, but
I also decided to give having started playing age 10 and having
this cricket game a go. played at a decent standard, I knew that
And a friend of mine game inside out and I could feel the guys
plays the game and her on the cricket pitch were sceptical at best.
Dad is on the National And then I give out RUN OUT to the
Umpires’ Committee, home captain. Mind you, he was out by a
so the connection is yard at least and knew it, but I had only
quickly made. My moved to about45 degrees and therefore
friend tells me I need wasn’t aligned with the popping crease.
ossie asked and doesn’t know to play and, as her team is often short
what he’s got himself into. I’m of females – I later discover that this is He was not amused and the whole of the
VDutch, so I take myself and what par for the course in the lower women’s Sparta sports complex could hear what he
I do extremely seriously. That said, I do league in Holland – I can join them thought of my decision. He walks past my
call myself half Irish after 6 years in the immediately. The remainder of the season colleague on the way back to the pavilion
country and absolutely falling in love is 3 matches, 2 of them are rained off and repeats some of it ‘whispered’ in his
with the place and the people, so I do a during or after the 1st innings, I get to bat ears.
bit of the ‘taking the mick out of myself’, at 11 twice, run around the square leg or
so why not show a bit of me, here we go. midwicket boundary sliding my way into Second innings starts and Phil, the home
preventing 4s and into the team. I was captain, who has clearly figured out that
Some of you may recognise my name hooked. I’m on my first match, opens the bowling.
from cricket or hockey. As a 10-year old You’ve guessed it, at my end. Anything
I started playing hockey and to this day I Then winter comes and so does the that hits the pads gets an appeal and the
do not know how I didn’t end up playing umpiring course. Eight Thursday first one of way too many, is done from
cricket a few years later as most of my evenings starting at 8 and there are 5 of about 5 foot in front of me and all I can
team mates were playing cricket in the our team who are interested, my friend is think is ‘please don’t give away that you’re
summer and the 3rd pitch of the cricket one of them and she’s 5 months pregnant. absolutely shaking’. Welcome to cricket in
club next door was a strip of gravel the Netherlands and to former oversees
between pitch 2 and 3 at the hockey club. Due to misunderstandings, we miss the pro’s who have married Dutch girls and
Some of the guys I looked up to in the first Thursday but come well prepared now captain or sub-captain their teams.
hockey club, and my sister’s PE teacher, on evening 2. The others on the course
were even playing for the Netherlands’ are 6 or 7 gentlemen, all of them with The debrief is in my colleague’s garden
national team – or so I discovered about subcontinental roots. That night their and it’s not pretty. I decide that I’ll give
25 years later. world as they know it ends. it a few more matches as my hockey
experience tells me that I’m not all that
How did I get involved in cricket I hear The other 3 can’t make it on night 2, so bad, I just had a fanatic Kiwi as a captain

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