5 Essential Equipment Used by Umpires in Cricket Matches

Technology is increasingly being used in various sports as technological development progresses. The match referee and the umpires now make decisions more accurately thanks to the usage of technology in sports.

We have described the equipment used by the cricket umpires in this post:

1. The Counter

The umpires previously utilized a set of six coins, stones, or marbles to count the balls in an over before the development of current tools. The umpires were responsible for passing the marble or coin from one hand to the next.

However, those times are long gone, and umpires now employ “the counter” for the same thing. The gadget has many buttons on each side, and the umpire hits one time a ball is delivered, another when an over is complete, and a third button in the event that a wicket falls.

2. Snick-o-Meter

The third umpire uses this equipment to decide an appeal of a wicket-keeper caught behind. The umpire utilizes slow-motion television replay to judge whether or not the cricket ball made contact with the cricket bat.

The mice utilized inside the stumps record minute sounds created by the bat colliding with the ball, the ball colliding with the pad, or the ball colliding with the ground.

After analyzing the type of pattern produced by the snick-o-meter, the third umpire makes a decision.

A high spike in the pattern indicates that the ball struck the bat; a thick spike in the pattern suggests that the ball may have struck the pad or the ground.

3. The Ball Gauge

When a ball loses its form owing to strong hitting/thrashing, such as the explosive hitter AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, the umpires utilize a ball gauge to determine whether the ball is still useable.

If the ball passes through the ring, it is regarded usable; if it does not, it is replaced.

4. The Light-o-Meter

This device measures the amount of light (in lumens) that falls on the ground. This equipment is primarily utilized during test matches.

If the umpire suspects that there is insufficient light on the ground, he uses The Light-o-meter to measure the light in the centre of the field (usually the pitch) and the outfield.

This gadget has caused controversy in many test matches since there have been occasions where the bowling team just needs one wicket on the final day to win the match, but measurement by this equipment gives the umpire the power to suspend the match due to bad light, resulting in a draw.

5. The Protective shield

This is one of the most desired devices among umpires. The umpire’s hand is bound to protect himself from any harmful shot. It is composed of transparent Perspex. Because balls are getting harder and faster all the time, the umpire can use this shield to protect himself.

6. Walkie-Talkie

This is similar to holding a cell phone. The on-field umpires use walkie-talkies (named from the words walk and talk) to communicate with the match referee and third umpire.

Umpires can hear any sound from the microphone attached to the stumps using a walkie-talkie. The umpire consults with the third umpire regarding the boundary, any suspicious catch, or any other decision such as run out and stumping.

So these were some unique equipment used by cricket umpires to make correct decisions and even to defend themselves from damaging strikes. We hope that this article has piqued the readers’ interest.

Also Read: 5 Cricketers Who Battled Substance Abuse That Nearly Shattered Their Lives (cricfiles.com)