On face value, OPSM’s five year sponsorship agreement with Cricket Australian appears to be a a win-win for the players, the brand, and fans but has anyone stopped to consider the impact that a focus on eyecare will have on our umpires?
As part of the agreement, the Aussie cricketers are on to a pretty good thing, receiving world-class optometry care and products. The partnership will also act a means to promote eyecare among cricket fans and the wider public. Australians, and men in particular, are traditionally lax when it comes to eyecare. According to Optometrist Association Australia 50% of people in Australia with glaucoma are undiagnosed and poor eyecare leads to 1 in 7 people over the age of 50 developing macular degeneration. So if the partnership promotes a healthier lifestyle, than that’s good too but the demographic that would stand to benefit most from a partnership with Australia’s leading eyecare specialist is the umpires.
It’s a tenuous state affairs for the umpires. With the two-strikes referral system already undermining an umpires authority, even more pressure is placed on the men in middle when the referrals are all used up and the game must revert to how it was played in the old-days. Players can make mistakes, umpires not so much. If a batsman chops a Dale Steyn fireball onto his stumps, that’s just the way it goes. But I pity any umpire that has the guts/foolishness to send Michael Clarke packing for LBW with a delivery the pitches outside off-stump! It’s going to be a tough and tense start to the summer. The umpires need all the help they can get.
As fans, we might want to keep this in mind. Perhaps next time your tempted to vent, “Is he f*@cking blind!?”, you should consider whether your frustrated accusation should be more appropriately re-directed as a genuine question as the state of the umpires optical health. Here’s a few umpiring howlers that may have gone a different way had they been facilitated with the care and expertise their role requires.
Due to India’s refusal to use the referal system, a few shockers snuck through last year. None as bad as this one. For a young fiery quick, James Pattinson handled that pretty well. His “Was that missing?” enquiry could have been phrased with much more colour and colloquial panache.
Wellington has pretty fickle weather at the best of times but the daylight between bat and ball on this occasion was more than enough to earn the umpire a roasting. Andrew Flintoff was spewing!
Ashwell Prince can attest first hand the majesty of Shane Warne’s bowling. Even if it’s going to miss by six inches, Warnie can still get the wicket.
Adam Gilchrist was as much respected for his ability to cream a ball out of the stadium as for his fairness. A noted walker, not even Gilly’s reputation could save him from this stinker.
As Gilly found out, there are bad decisions and then there is playing in the sub-continent. Enough said.
One gets the impression that if AB de Villiers had got any more wood on that one, it would have gone square of the wicket for 4.
Mitchell Johnson had (and is having, if you believe the comeback talks) a pretty up and down career. This pearler of a ball was delivered during one of his darker periods. The wicket he diserved might have been just the confidence boost he needed but alas, Mitch had to walk back to mark knowing even his best deliveries weren’t enough anymore.
Picture by Hamish Blair/Getty Images
