Watch: Umpire hilariously joins the game, starts to appeal

One of the most difficult jobs that often goes unnoticed is umpiring. They always have a long and tedious job of ensuring that a game is run smoothly and correct judgements are made. They are frequently subjected to players enthusiastically appealing for caught or leg before wicket chances. Some appeals are humorous, while others are simply unpleasant. It gets worse when the bowler is certain he or she has the wicket, but the umpire thinks otherwise.

More recently, during a club match in England, an umpire temporarily forgot his role and started to appeal alongside the bowling team appeal. This happened when the batter was struck on the pads in front of the stumps. A video of the same has gone viral across the internet.

The event occurred during a match between Odiham and Greywell Cricket Club and Overton Cricket Club.  Overton was 12/5 while batting first, and bowler Sophie Cook produced a ball outside off that batter Michael Eeles. He attempted to leave the ball. The ball then brushed against his pads and passed through to the wicketkeeper, and as the bowler and fielders raised their hands in protest, so did the umpire.  However, he realised it quickly and was fast to halt his own appeals and make his decision.

Odiham Cricket Club shared the video of the same. "When your umpire is a player and just loves to be involved…. By appealing himself!" read the caption of the Tweet the club posted.

Here is the video of the umpire appealing

When your umpire is a player and just loves to be involved…. By appealing himself! 🤦🏼 @crickshouts @Frogboxlive @wecricket_ pic.twitter.com/3LAdMDFCg1

— OdihamCricketClub (@OdihamCricket) June 5, 2022

Umpiring is a thankless profession. When a decision goes wrong, fans and critics do not forget it easily, yet when a fair judgement is made, the umpires are rarely given credit. With the addition of technology, the life of umpires has become a lot easier. The game has witnessed several umpire assistance, like the DRS system and the no-ball tracking system. With this, the standards of umpiring also have gone up.