Just like any job, it is important to give and receive feedback to allow personal development – cricket umpiring is no different.
During the last month , New Zealand Cricket has been conducting end of season debrief sessions with their umpires, to look back on the season just gone, reflect and then look forward to the 2010/11 season.
“It’s really important with umpires to reinforce what they are doing,” New Zealand Cricket national umpiring manager Rodger McHarg said. “Umpiring is a high performance area -no different from playing - and as we all know, the players expect top performance regardless."
The umpires go through a list of points including things they have done well during the season, things that they can improve on, the constant evolution of the Laws and the way the game is now played, which means high performance umpiring is shifting from being a “hobby” and requires year round study and review to achieve continuous improvement.
McHarg said it’s important do a “self assessment” to look at the factors that make up an umpire’s game. “We take the positives out of umpiring performances and analyse what key factors made a particular day or game go so well,” he said. “Part of the debrief is getting a wider perspective of the season overall and to set in motion the preparations to ensure we go forwards towards 2010/11.
“Just like in modern business practice, you need to plan because ‘failing to plan equals planning to fail’.”
All the cricket umpiring panels have now met, and some even had the chance to catch up with elite international umpire Tony Hill. “New Zealand Cricket is delighted to be able to use the experience of the New Zealand members of the ICC elite panel to reinforce the messages of what is required to reach the top level,” McHarg concluded.
