ABSTRACT
It should be clear that no matter how cogently worded the Laws of Cricket may be and no matter how many years of practice have built up for us to call upon in cases of doubt or uncertainty, at a basic level, an umpire is bound by the nature of the game to make mistakes. Just as a judge may mistakenly believe in the credibility of a clever liar, thereby reaching an ‘incorrect decision’, an umpire dealing with the blur of a fast bowler and listening for a nick of the bat, or lifting his eyes quickly from the bowler’s front foot to follow the flight and pitch of the ball to determine if the batter is out LBW, can easily be mistaken. As noted and respected former umpire Dickie Bird puts it:
We are dealing with inches and fractions of seconds and are bound to fall into error at some time or another. What it is important to realise, however, is that umpires all over the world are honest men doing their best in difficult circumstances, without fear or favour.1
