CRICKETING MATTERS : The protective arm cover of the umpire

Bruce Oxenford, the Australian Cricket Umpire, at the beginning of 2016 hit upon the idea of ‘fortifying’ the protection of the person of the umpire.

His innovation, a pear shaped arm guard, came into play when in April 2016 he ‘adorned’ himself with it to officiate in the Indian Premier League in the match between Gujarat Lions and Royal Challengers, Bangalore.

Prior to the IPL, Oxenford had displayed his ‘armour’ on his left arm at a World T20 warm up encounter between Australia and the West Indies.

A lot of thinking has gone into the planning and shaping of helmets in the wake of the Phil Hughes tragedy. The design of the helmets for batsmen have undergone radical changes for cushioning the temporal and occipital areas of the head.

The issue of safety of umpires assumed significance when a cricket official died after being struck by a ball in the head in a league match in Israel.

John Ward, the Australian became the first umpire to wear a helmet in an international match during the 4th ODI between India and Australia at the Manuka Oval, Camberra, on January 20, 2016. Perhaps taking a cue from John Ward, Oxenford’s inventiveness surfaced for fabricating the arm guard.

Oxenford is also a former cricketer. His domestic first class debut was for Queensland in 1991 against Victoria. His last first-class match was in 1993 against Victoria.

His last first class match was in 1993 against South Australia. He has, to date umpired 20 T 20 internationals, 80 ODI’s and 34 Tests. He replaced fellow Australian Simon Taufel who retired from the ICC Elite Umpires Panel in 2012.

This writer was of the impression that the Oxenford ‘arm guard’ was made of glass fibre and that it was very light in weight. However, the material used to fabricate the arm guard is polycarbonate. Incidentally polycarbonate crowns are useful as temporary caps for anterior teeth which have been prepared to receive ceramic crowns. It would indeed be interesting to know if Oxenford had liased with a dentist to discover the value of polycarbonate.

The arm guard worn and displayed by Oxenford is 6mm thick. It weighs one killogram. The protective arm guard for the umpire has been tested in the nets before being given clearance for use by the Cricket Boards of England and Australia. By underpinning one killogram around the arm of the umpire alacrity of the umpire throughout the course of the match will not be possible to be maintained.

The weight of the guard would certainly be a deterrent in terms of spontaneity of movement of any umpire. The fourth ODI between India and New Zealand at Ranchi bore testimony to this when Oxenford, despite being with his ‘Protective shield’, was unable to bring it to effective use. A throw from a fielder bounced in front of him to hit him in the groin. Manufactures need to devise protective equipment that can be both efficient and light.

One of the interesting facts of Oxenberg’s arm guard is that if a ball that is hit by a batsman rebounds off the arm guard of the umpire and a catch is taken by a fieldsman, the striker will be declared out caught. Similarly if a ball that is driven straight in the direction of the bowler’s end umpire rebounds off the umpire’s arm guard, and is picked up by the bowler or fieldsman who removes the bails or uproots the stumps with the non-striker out of his ground, the non-striker will be adjudged ‘run out’.

Take the case of the helmet of a fieldsman. If the striker hits the ball which ricochets off the helmet of a fielder and who in turn takes a catch the umpire will call and signal ‘dead ball’. A batsman, in such a circumstance, will not be given out. The striker hits the ball which rebounds off a helmet of a fieldsman. The non-striker is out of his ground. The ball hits the wicket and the bails come off. To the appeal of a fielder the bowler’s end umpire calls and signals ‘Dead Ball’.

The striker hits the ball that rebounds directly off the bowler’s end umpire. The ball is caught by a fielder. The bowler’s end umpire will rule the striker out, caught. The protective arm guard of the umpire thus will create scope and space for fresher transcript to be added to the existing laws of the game – hopefully with lesser ordeals for umpires on the field of play.

When Oxenford becomes adept at raising his left index finger when giving a batsman out instead of his right, he will by then probably get used to the weight of the arm guard.