Unsporting behaviour causes umpire Jim Hartley to walk

Jul 2 2008 By Nick Pullen

JIM Hartley has called time on the Warwickshire League after 18 years as their administrator after becoming increasingly disillusioned with unsporting behaviour by players.

Hartley will quit his general manager’s post at the end of the season as a protest at unruly attitudes, which he believes are ruining the game he loves.

He said: “I don’t know whether it’s just cricket or society in general but it seems people have less respect for authority these days.

“All the indiscipline that is taking place is adding more hours to my job as general manager and it’s got to the point where I’ve had enough.

“When I took the job, it was worked out on the basis it would average two days a week of work.

“But an average week now requires between 23 to 24 hours, much of which is taken up with disciplinary matters which could be avoided.”

Hartley also umpires in the Warwickshire League and is equally disturbed over the attitude of players.

He added: “As umpires, we’re not perfect and we do make mistakes – but they’re honest mistakes.

“Yet I’ve been called a cheat and verbally abused. Is it any wonder we’re struggling to recruit umpires?

“We lost 10 umpires this season. Three went up into the Birmingham League and the rest retired.

“We held our own umpires course during the winter, while John Jameson staged another one at Edgbaston. Yet from the two courses we only managed to recruit three people.

“If you went around most clubs now and picked out their elder players and asked them if they would go into umpiring, the answer would be minimal. People just won’t do it any more.’’

Hartley recalled a recent incident which highlighted his concern for the sport.

During a recent game a batsman blocked a delivery, which was picked up by a close fielder.

The batsman then stepped down the pitch to prod down a bump in the wicket and the fielder threw the ball to the wicketkeeper, who ran him out.

Despite the captain being asked three times by the umpire if he was sure he wanted to claim the wicket as it was hardly in the spirit of the game, the dismissal stood.

“It’s a win at all costs attitude these days,’’ said Hartley.

‘‘Much of the problem has stemmed from the fact players don’t walk when they’re out. Alternatively, teams don’t call a batsman back if he’s got a bad decision.”

Hartley claims unsporting behaviour is now rife and added: “They’re not isolated incidents.

“We don’t supply umpires for second-team matches so when we have bad weather it creates real problems.

“If rain arrives, the team that’s winning doesn’t want to come off, while the team that’s losing does. Consequently all hell breaks loose.”