Kerala hits purple patch with rise of good-quality umpires

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state has become a fertile ground for spawning cricket umpires. Thanks to active programmes of Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Malappuram district cricket committees to bring out quality umpires, more and more former cricket players, as well as non-players, have ventured into umpiring in first-class matches.

The role played by former Kerala Ranji cricket team captain K N Ananthapadmanabhan, who is now an international cricket umpire, in motivating and mentoring the new kids on the block has also been very crucial.

The ongoing Kerala Cricket League Twenty20 franchisee cricket tournament being held at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, is seeing eight Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Level 2 umpires.

While Ananthapadmanabhan, A Sivakumar, Viswajith Bahuleyan and Ali Asghar are from Thiruvananthapuram, Tony Emmaaty, Ghanashyam Prabhu and Nidhin Murali from Thrissur and Vikas Agarwal from Ernakulam are BCCI Level 2 umpires.

This is the first time that these many Malayali umpires have found a berth in the top category. In the ongoing KCL tournament, 16 umpires are active when a total of six teams are competing against each other.

Sivakumar from Nedumangad and Tony from Ayyanthol are full of praise for Ananthapadmanabhan aka Ananthettan for turning the spotlight on quality in umpiring over the last several years in Kerala.

“Ananthettan had been regularly giving us classes on umpiring once a week at the Kerala Cricket Association office. His guidance has been of immense help for all of us as he showed us simulative videos and International Cricket Council videos. He spends time with us to improve our skills,” said 41-year-old Sivakumar who has been in this field for more than a decade.

Tony has only played college-level cricket matches back in his hometown in Thrissur. But that did not deter him from coming to first-class matches.

Thirty-nine-year-old Tony entered the umpiring scene as a young 19-year-old. He says he has come a long way, all thanks to Ananthettan. But a modest Ananthapadmanabhan told TNIE that he had just guided them on how to better their umpiring career.

“To be honest, I just showed them the way. The whole credit goes to the umpires from Kerala. It’s impossible to transform them overnight. They have the quality where they just require the right direction,” said Ananthapadmanabhan.