In early April, on the fourth day of the County Championship game between Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, seven young umpires all from the Nottingham High School enjoyed a magnificent umpiring experience at Trent Bridge.
They all did their level 1 umpiring training through the Russ Evans Foundation last summer, so this was a special treat to see how umpires operate in the professional game.
It was apt that David Millns, Russell’s best friend and fellow first-class umpire was officiating the game and hosted the visit.
The students were introduced to David in the Umpires’ Room and shown how to check that the ball was the correct size, using the ring gauge, and borrowed Ben Duckett’s bat to test it with the bat gauge. Fortunately, it was the regulation size…
Out on the ground, they observed the mowing and rolling of the pitch, heard the details of the Law explained by David Millns and placed the stumps in position. Here they are with David Millns, Russ Warren (Umpires) and Phil Whitticase. Note the Billy Bowden ‘out’ signal!
They took advantage of the players going to and fro to get autographs and selfies and the England Captain, Joe Root, joined them for a group photo.
They then took up their position in the hospitality areas of the Radcliffe Road Stand to watch the cricket. Some of the students also tried several different vantage points from around the ground. They demonstrated an impressive knowledge of the game. Towards the end of the day, there was much animated discussion about the timing of the declaration and Joe Clarke’s possible second century of the match.
A great day was had by all and we would like to thank Trent Bridge, in particular Alan Harrison (Cricket Development Officer for Nottinghamshire), all the players from both sides for taking the time to be so welcoming and of course, David Millns and his fellow officials.