Friday, July 12, 2013

Why is 'Stand Your Ground' acceptable behavior?



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It is considered acceptable behavior, in the modern game, for batsman to stay their ground even when they are clearly out.

The umpires are there to make the call. Let them do their jobs....Is the reasoning behind it. Some also go to the extent to suggest that overruling the umpire and "walking" amounts to "undermining the authority of the umpire"

Call me old fashioned, but I am increasingly uncomfortable with this line of thinking

Today, as one of the most intriguing of Tests unfolds at Nottingham, Stuart Broad stood his ground, almost embarrassed, as he edged a ball to slips and let the umpire figure out the multiple deflections.

If a fielder is reprimanded for claiming a catch that is on the bump, I think batsmen should be held to the same 'code of conduct'. To me there appears to be two differing codes that batsmen and bowlers are expected to adhere to

Cricket is increasingly moving towards an attitude that encourages "testing the umpire" by making their jobs more and more difficult. Even the DRS is not emerging to be an aid to the umpire, rather its becoming a tool that is often used to judge the performance of the on field umpire.

It is my belief that the biggest impact in correct decisions being delivered in a game of cricket will happen when players stop depending on the umpires to give them a life.

That however will require a strong departure from how things have evolved. It shouldn't be acceptable for the batsmen to stay their ground for obvious nicks.

It is as good as cheating. Just like claiming a bump catch is considered cheating.

It would be unfortunate if this classic Test match is remembered more for Broad's standing of his ground, than for the twists and turns that it has provided.

Its been one of the most absorbing Test matches I have watched in a long time.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The walking debate has been around for a long time, although now it has perhaps become more piquant. What's ne is DRS and we need to apply it more intelligently. Had that been done, Broad couldn't have got away with it. Cricketkeeper has more on this... By the way, you could consider including Cricketkeeper on your blog roll. Your blog is already in my list.