India all set to take South africa in 1st T20 Match At Dharamshala....!
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Friday, 2 October 2015
South Africa Tour India First T20 at Dharamshala
Thursday, 1 October 2015
Pakistan vs zimbabwe 1st ODI
Yasir Shah Clean up the Zimbabwe
At Harare Pakistan vs Zimbabwe First ODI where zimbabwe win the toss and they ball first pakistan start slow and loss early wicket of captain Azhar ali and soon ahmed shahzad and mohammad hafeez also departs early but then sarfaraz ahmed 44 and shoaib malik 31 give pakistan a hope, after they both out mohammad rizwan and imad wasim played superly rizwan not out 75 and imad wasim 61 to help pakistan to set a decent total of 260.
Zimbabwe starts very slow and keep lossing wickets Yasir Shah bowled superly he got 6 wickets zimbabwe end up poorly loss by 131 runs.
Man Of the Match Yasir Shah
Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Cricket Is not a Boring Game: Simon Taufel
Simon Taufel retired from officiating in international cricket in 2012, but continues to be involved with the world of umpiring, through his role as umpire performance and training manager with the International
Currently in Chennai to conduct the annual seminar for the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s panel of umpires, Taufel spoke to Wisden India on a range of issues. While questions on DRS were obviously a no-go, there were insights aplenty on his career, various aspects of umpiring and the intricate structure of the workshop. Excerpts:
Dickie Bird, David Shepherd… Simon Taufel. Do you ever sit back and think – ‘I’m one of the best in my profession’?
No, I don’t. If I reflect on my career at any stage, I’ll see myself as lucky and fortunate to have been able to participate at the highest level. Last weekend, I was at New South Wales’ umpires convention which is my introductory association – that’s where I started umpiring in 1991. It seems like a long time ago now, but I’m very grounded and very much aware of where I came from and the fortune that was given to me to grow up with that association.
I never look back and think I’m one of the best, I look back with humility, respect and a degree of being grateful.
Was it passion that took you to umpiring? Can umpiring be a passion, like playing the game is?
Certainly yes, in India it is a passion. It’s also a career and a profession as a good pathway is available for umpires. If you can make it to the Elite Panel, you can make it a full-time job. Umpiring is like a hobby when it’s part-time, but when you get to the Elite Panel, some aspects become easier as it’s a full-time job. The hardest part of my career and that of domestic umpires is when you have a full-time job, a family and the demands on your time are huge.
There is a lot of pressure at that stage, but you take up umpiring because you love umpiring. It is a passion. It changes a bit as you get more successful and it becomes a ‘job’, but I believe in doing what you love and loving what you do.
Did you have any role models?
No one in particular but I was very fortunate to grow up among a number of good umpires. I looked at qualities at a number of umpires that I respected and saw how I could apply those skills in my game. The best advice I can give for anyone who wants to be an umpire is – you should be yourself. You must be the best umpire that you can be and the only way to do that is by being you. If you grow up wanting to become like person X, then every time you have to do something, you’ll think ‘what will X do?’. That’s not a natural response as an umpire.
Could you compare the structures and the umpiring system in India and Australia? How similar or different are they?
The system is pretty much consistent all around the world. When you get interested in umpiring, you go to a local umpires’ association and do some training and write an exam on the laws of cricket. From there, it’s all about training on the job.
In India, you’ve got a lot more people and thus, more competition. The culture here is a bit different but I have to credit the BCCI for the incredible focus on meritocracy now. It doesn’t matter where you come from and who you know, it’s all about performance. That has been a real shift in India in terms of the culture. Last year, we focused on match referees and they moved away from a representative structure to a performance-driven structure, which was fantastic.
What aspects of umpiring can be taught in workshops and how much is on the job training?
Good question, because this year, we’re focusing a lot of our training process on ‘learning by doing.’ You can’t simulate too much of umpiring in workshops, but what we are simulating is suspect bowling actions.
We’re looking at suspect bowlers in the lab, some advanced studies, and applying them by practicing. We then compare the umpires’ judgments with the bio-mechanical feedback.
We are also working on simulated third umpire activities. We’ve set up a third umpire’s room with a director and a broadcaster, and the third umpire will work on his decision-making skills, in as close to a match situation as possible.
We’re also doing a few team-building activities. We’re learning about communication, team work, and preparation and officiating styles by simple activities and relating them to umpiring challenges. The learning is all by doing things, and not all by people telling you things. That kind of learning stays with you for a bit longer.
If you’re a team off the field and work together, it’s more likely that you’ll be more successful on the field. So when something challenging happens, you trust your colleagues. It’s like a cricket team, you have to have faith in your partners.
What exactly is team-work between umpires? What’s the communication like on the field?
It’s all about knowing your colleague and having regular eye-contact with him. If you’re at square-leg and I look towards you, you should know what I’m looking for. I could be looking for some guidance about an edge, look for a signal or call you for a chat. You have to look at the same things as I am. We should be together in reading the game and we should be able to help each other if there’s a problem.
I took responsibility for the decisions I took. I won’t necessarily be looking for an out/not out decision from square-leg, but could be looking for a height judgment or a clue about field restrictions or so on.
Another aspect is about complementing each other’s skills. You might have some strengths that I may not be good at. It might be communication, for example. If we have to deal with a strong player or captain, or increase the pace of the game, your communication skills might be more suited and thus you’ll talk to the captain.
In some situations where we’re having a delayed start due to weather and I’m from the home association and know more about the local conditions, so we might use my strengths. Together, we’ll combine and do the best we can. It’s like a cricket team – you have to trust your partners.
Who was your favourite partner?
It’s difficult to single out one umpire. I look at umpires like Rudi Koertzen, Ian Gould and Peter Willey with a lot of respect. Darrell Hair was incredibly strong, knowledgeable and supportive. He was the type of the guy I knew I could rely on if I needed some help about my game, because he knew my game inside out and also understood the laws and playing conditions very well.
I felt safe and he was a good man to be with. I look for people with whom you’re sort of similar, but different. You have to look at an umpire and know that he’s going to be there for you. If he makes a call from square-leg, you have to trust him and go with him. That’s how strong the bond should be.
When does an umpire get to know that he has given a wrong decision? How difficult is it to come out of it?
Most of the time, you know immediately. Your gut tells you. There are also a lot of things on the field that tell you too. It could be players’ reaction, an afterthought, or maybe your partner will tell you. You’ll generally know it pretty soon.
And in the wonderful world of televised cricket, if you don’t know immediately, you’ll find out pretty quickly! Players are very good at reminding you during the drinks break or say something like “come on guys, let’s get him again, let’s get him a second time.” You cop that on the chin.
But instinct and gut feel is very important as an umpire. If it looks out, it’s probably out. Sometimes you don’t always hear and see everything on the field and that’s where your experience comes in. Umpiring as many games as possible is important so that you can make mistakes and learn from those at the lowest level. Every level is important but it’s important you learn there before you move up. My mentor in Sydney calls it the apprenticeship – the learnings will help you grow across levels.
How is the transition from a domestic level to international level?
Umpiring fifth grade in Sydney, for example, is difficult because there are no groundsmen, no official scorers and there may not even be a colleague. You have to work your way through to the second grade, where it’s difficult because there are players who want to get to first grade and thus are tougher. However, there are scorers and groundsmen to help you out. So in terms of managing the venues, it’s easier, but in terms of managing players, it’s difficult.
As you progress through the levels, one key thing is adaptability. You have to shift different parts of your game because the challenges are different. And when you get to the international level, you have to deal with third umpiring, technology and also the challenges of laws. There is also the challenge of handling media focus and publicity surrounding your performances. How you handle the good feedback and the not so good feedback. Sometimes, you can help umpires prepare for that but at the end of the day, you have to experience it.
A major part of umpiring, then, is soft skills.
Absolutely, they are life skills. Some of the activities that we do in the workshops do not involve cricket and decision-making, but a lot of the process to get to a right decision is based around the soft skills. I can tell a lot about an umpire and how successful he will be on the field by seeing those skills. Because at the end of the day, the decisions take care of themselves. You won’t get to this level if you aren’t a good decision-maker. Sure, the best umpires make more correct decisions. Players accept mistakes. Maybe they won’t accept two or three mistakes, but what they generally want is consistency and calmness, reliability, effective communication and so on.
How understanding are players of how tough an umpire’s job is?
How understanding are players of how tough an umpire’s job is?
Everyone understands that we are all human beings. Each umpire handles his mistakes differently, just like the way the players accept them. It’s about acknowledging the mistakes and moving on. Some players move on quickly. They might give you a look on the field and let you know that it wasn’t a great decision, and you just give them a look back and put a hand up. You’re not looking to square off or apologise, you just acknowledge the fact that you gave it your best and you got it wrong. It’s just a way of saying you’re not going to argue about it.
Sometimes the players don’t move on and hold on to it for a couple of days. They stand next to you and say “any chance you’re going to get one right today?” and they’ll carry that for a while.
One of the areas we covered in the workshop was how to start again when something goes wrong. You have to keep restarting every ball. You can’t change the past, so focus on the next one and do it well. Do it again. Do it again. Keep doing it.
It hits you pretty hard when you make a mistake. I didn’t like making mistakes. What’s important is how you get through that process faster. My original strategy was to keep it with me but what I learnt over the years was to try and talk about it, and grieve through the process. You have to let that decision go out of your system.
Is umpiring more of a mental than physical exercise then?
It is. If a batsman is batting in tough conditions and is beaten or dropped, he has to forget that and concentrate again ball after ball. That’s what we do as umpires. Just like it is for a batsman, sometimes a ball is too good for us. But unlike a batsman, we can’t go off the field. We have to stay there and focus and keep facing the music.
Like cricketers, are there specific conditions where an umpire is comfortable with?
One of the challenges is adaptability. The exchange programs across boards help a lot. Umpires too have to adapt to different pitches and conditions. We have to learn to travel different time zones and understand local conditions.
The key is to adapt your skill set. For example, if I have to umpire in a noisy venue like Chennai during an Indian Premier League match, I have to understand that I’m not going to hear an outside edge. So what part of my other skill set can I use to hear and see to make a decision? I have to tell myself that if I don’t hear anything, it’s normal. You have to learn and trust your eyes a lot more.
However, there could be games where there is nothing happening. Like you go to Karachi, team A has scored 500 and team B is 400 for 3. Nothing is happening… and then suddenly, bang! I’d rather do a match where there is action as it keeps me in the moment. If it’s boring cricket, it’s difficult to be in the game.
So do umpires get bored in the middle in such one-sided matches?
Honestly, yes. Sometimes it’s a struggle when there is no intent or energy from the players. First sessions are easy because everyone is up and working hard. But if a team is batting for a declaration, it can get boring and tactics get negative. If a match is heading towards a draw, there is only one team that can lose. It’s the umpiring team!
That’s when you have to pull up yourself and focus even harder and ensure you don’t lose.
One way players show energy is by sledging. Have there been occasions where you enjoyed banter between players?
Sure, I have. It’s all about when exactly you step in. If you step in too fast, player versus player becomes player versus umpire. I let players have their say and express their feelings and emotions, get that off their chest and then if it gets over the top, I step in.
But consequently, if you wait too long, it escalates to a point where it goes out of control. It’s a judgment call and what we have to be aware of us the nature of the product. We try to help players as much as we can. We have to tell them – “Ok, you’ve said what you wanted to say. That’s enough. In your best interest, if you don’t want some paper work after the match, help me out and stay away.”
We don’t want to overly discourage the human element of the sport but at the same time, we have to uphold behavioural standards.
What’s your perception on Indian umpires? Why did it take so long for an Indian umpire to get into the elite panel?
The work that I do globally with our umpire-coaches – I have three full-time umpire coaches that work with us – we work with all ten full-member countries. So it won’t be fair to single out one country. I did my first two Tests with Venkat (S Venkataraghavan) and it was a great experience. It’s difficult to put a finger on why each country may not have produced an umpire for 10 years. But what I will say is that it takes 10 years for anyone to get from grassroots to world class in sport, whatever the sport may be.
All great players start early and it takes a while for anyone to become world-class. Each country has to see what they’re doing domestically to shorten the apprenticeship period and produce someone world class. It’s a global challenge, not unique to India.
Should umpires start wearing helmets in the shorter formats?
We’re seeing more and more near misses these days, particularly in limited-overs cricket. The bats are incredibly powerful and the risks are increasing. Deflections of a bowler’s hand or off the stumps… or even standing in the nets is risky when the likes of Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, David Warner are batting.
I’m not saying umpires should wear helmets but they have to consider what they can do to feel safe and comfortable. I certainly wouldn’t want to wear one as the conditions are often hot enough already. But umpires are standing a bit deeper in their positions and it’s making them watch more closely. We’re seeing more and more cases of people getting hit so it is an issue we are aware of and talking about. There are some umpires in Australia who wear helmets on the field because they’ve been hit before.
It’s an issue that won’t go away so long as bats get more powerful.
Can umpires be 100% objective?
I firmly believe that every cricket umpire is naturally neutral and focused on making the right decisions. In my career, I haven’t come across an umpire that I thought was favouring one team or the other. For me, it was easier to umpire away from home or in a neutral venue because you didn’t have the local pressure. The pressure of wanting to appear neutral and by doing that, you can go against your home team. In neutral places, you just go out there and do your job without thinking anything else. I believe every umpire does the best job that they can do.
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Pakistan Wins T20 Series Against Zimbabwe
Pakistan won by 15 runs
At Harare Pakistan vs Zimbabwe 2nd T20 Match where Pakistan win by 15 Runs,
pakistan win the toss and chose bat first and made 137 Umer Akmal was the top scorer and man of the match..!
Zimbabwe loss early wickets and just made 121/7 in 20 overs SC Williams was the top scorer in zimbabwe innings...!
Man of the Series was IMAD WASIM for his wonderful bowling performance
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