Cricket umpires fumble on T20 calls

Date:
August 11, 2020
Source:
Queensland University of Technology
Summary:
Cricket umpires struggle to please everyone at the best of time
but the different formats of the game make it even harder for them,
especially when it comes to LBW decisions.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The toughest call to make by a cricket umpire is a leg-before-wicket
(LBW) decision and new research from QUT reveals the ability to judge
correctly changes with the format of the game, with T20 matches the most
likely to produce mistakes.


========================================================================== Joshua M. Adie, a PhD candidate in QUT's School of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences, has just published a new paper highlighting research conducted
in partnership with Cricket Australia.

When in doubt, it's not out: Match format is associated with differences
in elite-level cricket umpires' leg-before-wicket decisions was
co-authored by QUT's Associate Professor Ian Renshaw and Professor Remco Polman, along with Dr Matthew B Thompson (Murdoch) and Associate Professor David L. Mann (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam).

It can be viewed on the ScienceDirect open access website prior
publication in the November issue of Psychology of Sport and Exercise.

As an uncertain cricket season approaches and the men's T20 World Cup
postponed from October/November until next year, administrators of
the game are still working out how to pivot and adapt to the COVID-19
sporting landscape.

In the world of Australian cricket, it is certain there will be more
T20 matches in both the newly extended Big Bash League and the Women's
Big Bash League. Mr Adie's research suggests that umpires have some room
for improvement for LBW decisions in T20 cricket.



==========================================================================
"In professional sport, players and spectators expect referees and umpires
to make judgements under pressure with speed and precision. However,
judgements can be shaped by a range of contextual factors including
crowd noise and home advantage," said Mr Adie.

"The LBW law requires umpires to adjudicate whether the ball -- after
hitting the batter -- would have gone on to hit the stumps.

"The umpire has to consider where the ball bounced and hit the batter,
and did it hit their bat before hitting them, as well make as a predictive judgement as to where the ball would have travelled had it not hit the
batter. If all these criteria are met, then the batter can be given 'out'.

"First though, they must judge whether the ball is a 'legal' delivery
by determining whether the bowler's front foot landed. That's a lot to
take in during the ultra-fast pace of a T20 match." Mr Adie examined historical elite-level match data from four-day, one-day and T20 games
supplied by Cricket Australia to gain a better understanding of LBW decision-making in real matches.



==========================================================================
"The playing conditions of each format shape how players approach the
game and present different challenges for umpires," he said.

"Batters in test cricket take a conservative approach to bat for as long
as possible, while those playing T20 cricket typically opt for a more
explosive approach to score runs as quickly as possible. Laws, player strategies and crowd sizes differ greatly across all forms of the game,
yet the LBW law remains identical.

"Interestingly, we found that umpires' decision-making behaviour also
changed between match types. Viewing the data from Cricket Australia,
we found that overall, umpires' decisions were rated as correct an
impressive 98.08% of the time. However, in T20 matches, they had a Hit
rate of 86.15 per cent and a False Alarm rate of 2.04 per cent, compared
to 96.20% and 0.87% in four-day matches. This meant that umpires were
biased to say 'not out', especially in T20 which resulted in more errors.

"It could be that the significantly larger crowds and TV audiences in T20 cricket compared to Four-day matches are putting more pressure on umpires
to give the batter the 'benefit of the doubt' and if that's the case
then future studies could explore their influence in sports officiating.

"Another possibility is that because T20 cricket is heavily focussed on entertainment in the form of explosive batting performances, umpires
are being unconsciously more conservative for the sake of continuing entertainment, resulting in more 'miss' errors.

"Considering how incorrect decisions can change the outcome of a match,
the future career prospects of participants (officials, players and
coaches), and have financial repercussions for all, it is vital to know
of and eliminate such errors in sports officiating wherever possible."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Queensland_University_of_Technology. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Joshua M. Adie, Ian Renshaw, Remco Polman, Matthew B. Thompson,
David L.

Mann. When in doubt, it's not out: Match format is associated
with differences in elite-level cricket umpires' leg-before-wicket
decisions.

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2020; 51: 101760 DOI: 10.1016/
j.psychsport.2020.101760 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200811120118.htm

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