The Australians take the spoils in Malaysia

Sunday 25th and it’s the day of the final.

It’s also travel day because if the game goes the distance Asad, Mark, Marks wife Sarah and I will have to leave the ground and go straight to the airport to catch our flight to Dubai.
The morning was spent packing, paying bills and saying goodbyes to people in the hotel who had looked after us extremely well. An extra vehicle had been arranged to take our bags to the ground and wait the outcome of the game. Australia had won every toss during this tournament, the West Indies hadn’t won any, if I was a betting man I’d have put heaps on the Windies winning this one today. But I’d have lost because Ricky Ponting won the toss again for the 5th time in a row and again decided to bat first. It was tough going early on as the Windies bowled a good line and length and had a little bit of luck with one or two indifferent bounces – well it was the 5th game that had been played on this pitch and it was showing signs of wear. Again the Aussie middle order saved their side from a low score. Brett Lee got things off to a flying start with Gayle going first ball LBW and wickets continued to tumble- in fact it was only Sarwan and Smith who managed any respectable scores both ending up with 30’s- but the Windies were skittled for just 113, making the Aussies winners by 127 runs and DLF Cup Champions.
It had been a very well organised event. There were one or two hiccups which there are in any event but on the whole it was great as a venue. The teams played hard but fair and it was good practice for all teams in the lead up to the Champions Trophy. The Malaysian people didn’t embrace it as much as the organisers had hoped but KL is certainly growing in terms of cricket development so it must be encouraged with events such as this.
Because the match finished early there was no immediate dash to the airport required which allowed us to say our goodbyes and have a drink with everyone which was a nice way to wind down after the event. KL is certainly a place I would recommend going to and I hope I get the opportunity to go back at some stage in the not too distant future.
That’s it for now, see you the next time.

Saturday 24th

Our last free day before flying home. All the officials set off for the local shopping area – Times Square – and hunted for some bargains. KL does have a large variety of shopping to do. Electrical goods are always good value, we found a HP laptop that was on sale for 2500 Ringgits which is about £350, it was brand new and probably very good but with a lot of counterfeit goods around in Asia it was never easy to tell. Clothing was cheap as was food and shoes, in fact I ended up buying a pair of slip-on shoes that I didn’t really want but I couldn’t really resist. In the afternoon I’d organised some tickets for the guys to go upto the 42nd floor of the Twin Petronas Towers, it’s called the ‘bridge walk’ because there is a bridge that joins both towers together and the public are allowed to get up there for free and view the amazing scenery from a terrific vantage point. Unfortunately when we got onto the bridge the heavens decided to open and our view was cut to virtually nothing but it’s still worth the visit.

Friday 23rd

The penultimate game and whoever won it would play West Indies in the final on Sunday. The Aussies were favourites but the Indians had got out of jail against the Windies 2 days ago so they would no doubt come out fighting. Aussie won the toss and batted again (that’s the 4th time in a row that Ponting has won the toss) but they didn’t start very well. Hayden got 50 at the top of the order but it was left to Symonds and Hussey to give some respectability to the total by getting some runs towards the end of the innings. 214 was eminently gettable but there was controversy ahead as Tendulkar was given out in the 2nd over when the ball came off his shoulder. Mark Benson was the umpire and no sooner had he made the decision than he realised it was the wrong one. He walked over to his colleague at square leg Asad Rauf and told him that he was changing his decision he called Tendulkar back and then proceeded to explain his decision the Ponting who, although unhappy about it, realised that the right decision had eventually been reached. This was a very brave bit of umpiring by Mark, I know a lot of guys who would have just stuck to their decision even though it was wrong but Mark knew he’d made a mistake and went about rectifying it. He received very good comments from all concerned but it didn’t help Tendulkar because 2 overs later he was out caught at cover point and India’s man in form was back in pavilion. They kept losing wickets but a partnership between Dhoni and the recently recalled Dinesh Mongia looked as though it could take India home and into the final. Never underestimate the Aussies though and even though India only required 2 and ½ runs per over to win they kept the pressure on and the Indians cracked. It can be a problem for a lot of sides – winning against the Aussies – and it certainly looked as though the Indians lacked the confidence to get over the winning line even though they were within touching distance. Australia eventually won by 18 runs and they made it into the final to play the Windies on Sunday.

Thursday 22nd

Our last golfing day, the foursome of Dev, Greig, Rhodes and Broad had been reunited. We were due to play against 4 Aussies who were out in KL redesigning some of the courses and one of the courses they were working on, the KL Golf and Country Club, was the course we were invited to play on today. The Aussies had to work though so it was just left to our fourball to go off and enjoy the course. Dev and Rhodes played Broad and Greig and it was another very good contest. I think we’d all worked out each others games by now and whoever invented the golfing handicap did a fantastic job because although Dev and Rhodes won the front nine convincingly by 4 shots Broad and Greig came back on the back nine to require a win on the last hole to square the match. It was a long par 5 with the clubhouse some 500 metres away in the distance. Rhodes and Greig hit their tee shots into one of the many bunkers to the left of the fairway. Dev hit a massive drive but went left into the trees and I hit a shortish drive but landed in the fairway. Our second shots got us within chipping distance of the green and this is where matches are won and lost. Kapil Dev had rattled a few trees and eventually picked up. John Rhodes had blocked his third right of the green and had left himself with a tricky chip over a bunker. Tony was on the green some 40 feet away with a rollercoaster of a putt and I had flown just over the flag with a slick down hill putt about 12 feet in length. John had fluffed his chip and had taken 2 to get out of the bunker. Tony’s first putt ended up some 8 feet away and he missed the following putt, I had trickled my 12 foot putt some 4 feet past the hole but I now had an uphill putt which safely found the bottom of the cup. Winners of the back nine and a half in the match. I’d enjoyed my adventures on the courses over here and I’d enjoyed the friendship that the four of us had made because that’s what golf is all about, getting out having a bit of exercise and a good yarn along the way. If money changes hands then so be it but it’s only loose change so no-one loses a great deal.

Wed 20th

This time the Indians had to win against the West Indies to have any chance of going through to the final. We were back on the number 2 pitch again which had been successfully repaired by the groundstaff after a channel had been found on a length at the Southern end of the ground. They had thoroughly soaked the area and drilled holes in the pitch and then lifted and filled those holes so as to raise the surface to make it as flat as possible. They had done a great job but there was still a slight indentation which we all hoped wouldn’t make too much of an impact. India won the toss and decided to bat first but they didn’t make a very good job of it. Sachin got another fifty but there weren’t too many other significant contributions so the West Indies had a great chance of shutting India out of the competition. For some reason though the West Indians decided to re-arrange their batting order opening with Chanderpaul and Morton instead of Gayle. They allowed the Indians to make early inroads into their batting and if you allow a side to get on top in this form of the game they very rarely let go and this was the case in this match. Lara came in at number 9 and the Windies still had a chance of winning but they relied very heavily on Lara. He didn’t disappoint but unfortunately the rest of the side couldn’t stay with him so although they were only chasing 163 to win they got bowled out for 146 and India had given themselves a chance of making the final.

Tuesday 19th

Another golfing day for three of the foursome. Tony Greig, John Rhodes and myself played with a chap called Devin Raif at the beautiful Kota Permai Golf and Country Club some 20 minutes away from the hotel. It was another steamy day but buggies had been arranged so it was a little less arduous than it might have been but the course was tough. They had played the Malaysian Open there a few months previously and the fairways were undulating and the greens were slick and sloping so all in all it was a challenge. Tony and John played Devin and I and it turned out to be a great game with a putt on the last by me to half the match and end honours even.

Malaysian Tri-Series hots up!

Wednesday 13th,
Day off today but there was no time for rest, Tony Greig, Kapil Dev, John Rhodes (ICC anti-corruption officer) and me had arranged a game of golf. We played at the Royal Selangor Golf Club which although they are doing some serious repair work to 18 holes of the course there was still 18 to play and they were in terrific condition. This course is not far away from the Traders hotel where we are staying and is open to non-members. It was hot and humid with some classic Malaysian rain showers during the round but they have shelters all the way round the course so we didn’t get too wet. Kapil is a lovely player off a 3 handicap, Tony and John play off 15 and I played off my Wollaton Park handicap of 8. Unfortunately, John and I lost to Kapil and Tony on the last hole.

Thursday 14th,
India were playing their first game of the series against the West Indies . India won the toss and decided to bat. This gave the great man Sachin the opportunity to bat on his return from the serious shoulder injury. It didn’t seem as though he’d been away as he blasted the WI bowling attack all over the Kinrara Oval for a magnificent 140. India looked in great shape to win the game as the second innings started but WI made a good start to their innings and at 20 overs were 140 odd for 2 when rain came. Now 20 overs constitutes a game in ODI cricket and the rain started exactly on 20 overs and it didn’t stop, under the Duckworth/ Lewis method WI won by 29 runs. It’s always a difficult way to end a game but I was warned that this is the monsoon season so it wasn’t unexpected. One win each for the Windies and the Aussies!
Today is ‘Chinese air force day’ (Fly day) and it’s another day of golf but this golf game is different because we’re playing with royalty! We have been invited to play at Saujana Golf Club by the Prince of this region Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Tan Sri Imran Ibni Tuanku Ja’afar , thankfully known as Tunku Imran or Pete to his golfing pals! There are 8 of us, a four-ball that has been organised by the prince and our usual suspects. Kapil played in the four-ball with the Prince so Devin Nair -who works for the McGirvan Media group- played with Tony, John and myself. It was a beautiful course (fact they’d played the European Tour Master tournament there some months earlier so you can imagine what it was like). The course name is Malay for big Cobra and there was a message on the 8th tee not to go into the hazard on the 8th and 9th hole because a big Cobra had been spotted earlier in the day. Needless to say we all aimed well away from trouble!!!! John and I got our revenge on Tony and it all ended with all of us sharing a beer in the 19th!

Saturday 16th,
India had to play Australia. The crowds had been disappointing for the first 2 matches but for this game it was a sell-out. Australia won the toss and as with all the other games they decided to bat first but it didn’t all got to plan as Australia could only muster 244. Ponting and Katich made fifties but it was a tough slog with some good bowling, particularly from Harbhajan Singh and Verinder Sehwag who both found some turn in this pitch. It rained just before the lunch break which caused a very humorous scene. There were 7 balls remaining of the Aussie innings and the TV crew thought that we would take lunch immediately and finish the 7 balls afterwards. In fact no sooner had the rain started when it stopped so the umpires decided to go straight back out again and finish the innings before lunch. We informed the TV director who then informed us that he had no cameramen at their stations because they were all in lunch stuffing their faces. The funny sight came when we saw 3 cameramen running to their positions, one of whom was still carrying his lunch!

The innings only lasted 2 balls before McGrath was out; I hope they didn’t get indigestion from having to balk their lunch too quickly! Rain was to play a big part in this match because no sooner had the Indian innings started than it rained again, forcing the players off the field. They came back a little later with a reduced target in 29 overs. This meant that they had to play some shots and this played nicely into Mitchell Johnsons’ hands as the left-armer got the ball in the right areas and picked up 4 wickets for virtually nothing to have the Indians reeling at 35-5. But the rain started again and the game was washed out. This no result left the Indians at the bottom of the table at the half way stage. Australia were top and the Windies just behind.
Sunday was a rest day. No golf either, although I had been asked to go to a local radio station -Radio 4- and take part in a Sports Talk programme. There were certain parameters to the interview, I would be able to talk about the Darrell Hair incident at the Oval, I wouldn’t talk about ball tampering and I wouldn’t talk about bowling actions. The discussion went well, we talked about my role as a referee, some of the more difficult situation I have to deal with and about this series. Tony got on his high horse about the prices of tickets for this series which I think he was right to raise. If the organizers are trying to attract people to support the game in this part of the world then the price of tickets has got to be set at a level which everyone can afford. $50 US is too expensive for a lot of people in these parts! Anyway the interview over it was back to the hotel. During our journey back I got a phone call from the organiser of the event who asked me to pop into his room when I got back to the hotel because he had something to discuss with me. Intrigued I went straight up to his room and he told me that there were plans to possibly change the starting times of the games in an effort to beat the weather and get more cricket. This was motivated by TV and Indian audiences, both Indian matches had been affected by the rain. There were 3 options:
1) To leave things as they were and hope the rain doesn’t fall
2) To move all the remaining matches to day games and start them at 10am in the hope that the game would be over before the rain comes in the afternoon.
3) Start each game at 1.30pm instead of 2.30pm. This would allow an extra hour should there be any rain.
After some discussion it was decided to go with idea number three but it still had to be passed by the teams. Brendan McClements -the Tournament Director- was left in charge of phoning the managers and running it passed them. This was done and everything was agreed. For the rest of the afternoon I met up with the umpires who were going shopping and seeing some of the sights of Kuala Lumpur . KL does have some wonderful shops and is a little bit cheaper than the shops back home, it was just great to see so many people out enjoying themselves on a Sunday, I am a great people watcher! I bought some shoes and a couple of DVD’s but was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. (don’t tell my wife!)

Monday and another game day played under these slightly different rules. We were greeted by a fantastic day, not a cloud in the sky and no sign of any rain anywhere, typical! It was a very exciting game today with Australia playing West Indies and as per usual Australia won the toss and decided to bat. They got into trouble losing early wickets but Hayden and Hussey set West Indies a stiff target of 273 to win in their 50 overs. The Windies got off to a slow start but when Lara got together with Gayle they got on top of the Aussies and it looked like there could only be one winner. Then the Windies had a middle order wobble losing Gayle and Lara, the latter being caught off the back of the bat whilst going for a hook! But Bravo saw them home with some controlled stroke play and the odd huge hit. This result put the cat amongst the pigeons as far as the Indians were concerned because the Windies had now won 2 games and were guaranteed a place in the final which meant the Indians had to win both their remaining games against West Indies and Australia to have any chance of getting into the final themselves. Very interesting!!!

The International Triangular Series- Kuala Lumpur

Off we go again!
This time I’m off to Kuala Lumpur to officiate in the tri-series between India, Australia and the West Indies.

I board the Emirates flight from Birmingham which is relatively uneventful until we get close to Dubai . I have had some of their lovely food on the plane, watched Mission Impossible 3 with Tom Cruise which was OK and were getting ready to land in Dubai when we were told that there would be a diversion due to. We diverted to Abu Dhabi which was only about 20 minutes flying time away from Dubai where there was no fog and glorious sunshine.
1 hour 30 minutes later we finally got the all clear to fly to Dubai, we landed, went through security and had about an hours wait in the lounge before boarding a flight to Bangkok and then onto Kuala Lumpur. I was meant to meet up with Mark Benson -the elite panel umpire from England- whilst in Dubai but there was no sign of him so I assumed that he’d got caught up in the fog problem and missed the connection to Bangkok. Anyway I couldn’t worry about that as I had a plane to catch and a tournament to attend.

The flight to Bangkok was 6 hours but I was told, just after we took off that I would miss my connecting flight with Malaysian Airlines when we get to Bangkok because we are running 2 hours behind schedule. There was nothing I could do until I got to Bangkok so I wasn’t going to worry. I sat next to a lovely Australian couple who were just returning home after a safari holiday in Africa. They were cricket fans and were very interested in my trip to Malaysia and obviously very interested in the upcoming Ashes series, as most people in the cricket world are!
I watched a film called End Game which starred Cuba Gooding Jnr. It was a very good a thriller. That filled 90 minutes and before you knew it we were landing in Bangkok.
I was greeted by an Emirates representative who confirmed that I had missed my connecting flight and that they were going to put me up for the night in a local hotel. The next flight to KL was not until 12pm the next day. Oh dear I thought, I was already running late because of staying in Nottingham to watch my son, Stuart play for England at Trent Bridge and now I had a further delay which meant I wasn’t going to arrive in KL until late afternoon the day before the 1st match! I informed the ICC of the delay and also the tournament director in KL, there wasn’t much more I could do until I reached KL. The next problem I had was that Emirates had somehow managed to leave my golf clubs back in Dubai and again there wasn’t another flight coming in to Bangkok until after I’d left to go to KL the next day so I had to fill in the obligatory left luggage form giving a description of what the bag looked like and then left the airport for the Amari Airport Hotel.

I managed to get a reasonable nights sleep and had a hearty breakfast in the bustling hotel and no sooner had I finished eating than it was time to head off to the airport for my flight to KL. The flight left exactly on time which was a first - there is a golf course right in the middle of the 2 busy runways of Bangkok International Airport . There were 4 holes going out and 4 holes coming back with the rest of the course lying right underneath the flight path. I would need earplugs to play that course, but very unique I suspect!
KL is the most beautiful place, so clean and tidy but hot and we are holding this tournament right in the middle of the monsoon season. We are staying in a beautiful hotel which has only been open for 2 months called the Traders Hotel right in the centre in KL. The famous Twin Towers are just outside my bedroom window and they are gloriously lit every night. There is a huge shopping mall just 10 minutes walk away and it’s not only got shops but loads of restaurants as well. I met up with all three of my umpires Asad Rauf from Pakistan, Tony Hill from New Zealand and Mark Benson who had missed the flight in Dubai. I managed to get a reasonable night sleep which was needed with a game coming up the next day.

12th September- game day.
Australia were playing the West Indies in the tournament opener. I went to the ground early to check on the facilities and aside from one or two teething problems all looked well for a good game. The teams arrived at 12.30pm for a 2.30pm start. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. I won’t go into too much detail except to say that West Indies were cruising the game until they had a late order collapse of 7 wickets for about 27 runs, something they won’t be proud! But as the game finished and Australia won my day was just beginning!

Ricky Ponting was charged with ‘dissent at an umpire’s decision’. Now the game finished at 10pm, by the time I’d written out the charge sheets and informed the player and his manager it was 10.45pm. The meeting was held at 11pm and lasted about half an hour, and then there was all the paperwork that needed to be done and the emails to be sent and in some cases re-sent. All in all I didn’t get to bed much before 1.30am and I was ready for sleep at that time but could I switch off……..!

Broad on Broad

Great excitement in the Broad household this week as my son Stuart was selected to play for England in the ODI series against Pakistan.

There has been much speculation and newspaper talk about his prospects for some time but for it to have actually happened now is unbelievable and gives us a great sense of joy and happiness.


Stuart was playing at a rainy Wantage Road ground in Northampton when the squad was announced. He'd had a call from the chairman of selectors a couple of hours prior to the press announcement but he had to keep that quiet, except for close family. I'm sure the assembled media must have twigged as my wife and I and grand parents turned up at the ground well before the announcement time. It was great to be there to see the size of his smile!

Then on Friday his mother and I, along with Stuart were invited to London to attend the Cricket Writers Club Dinner. Stuart was presented with the 'CWC Young Player of the Year' award. This award goes back some 50 years and is a very prestigious award as so many great players have
won the prize. A few of those greats were there that night and it was great to seen David Gower present the silver inkwell trophy to Stuart. David conducted a little interview with him, although the content of the interview left something to be desired as he was mostly taking the mickey out of me!!!

Monday, the International Twenty20 match couldn't come soon enough and sure enough Stuart was selected to play. All the family were in Bristol - one of my old stomping grounds - to watch. England didn't do terribly well with the bat only mustering 144 but they had a chance after Stuart's 2nd over in which he got the wickets of Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan in consecutive balls. Then in came Shahid Afridi! He is an unpredictable batsman but his talents are well suited to the Twenty20 format, sure enough in only a few swift strikes he had won the game for Pakistan. One shot off Stuart ended up out of the ground going over the long boundary, it was an amazing hit!

The next stop was Cardiff for Stuart's first official ODI.
All England players are now numbered and Stuart is the 197th player to have played One-day cricket for England. They have used a lot of players in the last 20 years (I was number 91) and I hope he remains in the side for some time to come. It was a cold and rather damp day for his first match and again England didn't bat particularly well but managed to scrape past 200 thanks to Ian Bell who made 88. A last wicket partnership between Darren Gough and Stuart put on 29 which was great to see. I have never been so nervous watching a game of cricket! I was playing every shot for him, trying to get him off the mark and hoping that every ball didn't get him out. In the end he made 8 not out which was very pleasing…… but I've got to learn to relax!!!

Then came the rain and I thought it was set in for the night so I said my goodbyes and set off home to Nottingham. 45 minutes into the journey they restarted the match but it only lasted 7 overs as the heavens opened again. Pakistan ended 46-1 and Stuart got Shoaib Malik out LBW again. A draw was not the result we wanted but under the circumstances England must have been very happy as they haven't won an ODI in 8 matches!

Rain, foreign controversy and then home!

21/08 – Monday,

As I walked into the breakfast room everyone was talking about the ball tampering row to which I had no comment. Dravid had left Colombo during the night and the rest of the Indians were leaving at about 4pm that afternoon. Most of the Sri Lankan players had left and gone back to their homes but Tom Moody and Trevor Penny, the coaches were having breakfast before they too moved out. I had some tv work to do for the ICC. They are using umpires and referees in 30 second tv slots to explain some of the rules and regulations in the Code of Conduct booklet that everyone is governed by. A very good idea but it meant getting a shirt and tie on in 30 degree heat. I haven’t seen the finished article but I thought it went OK! Ranjan Madugalle was also there to do his bit and we ended up having a chat about all things cricket and in particular what happened at the Oval.

The rest of the day was all about packing and paying bills, returning the phone which the home board supply to all referees for official use and saying farewells to those people I’ve had dealings with during the past 2 weeks. My flight was scheduled to leave at 2.30am so after watching a bit of TV in the hotel the car arrived to take me to the airport at midnight. Sri Lanka ’s airport is fabulous, they have obviously spent a lot of money in upgrading it over the last couple of years and parts of it look brand new.
The flight did indeed take off on time and the 4 hours it took to get to Dubai was spent trying get some sleep. The 7 hour flight home was again highlighted by a good adventure movie. This time it was a Michael Douglas film called ‘The Sentinel’ and it was all about a spy in the US secret service. He eventually gets his man but there were a lot of twists along the way. We made it back to Birmingham almost on time and the great thing about coming back to the UK during summer time is that you don’t need a coat to protect you against the weather. It’s always nice to come home and today was beautiful flying through the fluffy clouds seeing the green fields below. Home sweet home!!

20/08 – Sunday, today was a new game.

Unfortunately nothing had changed with the weather. We didn’t rush to the ground this morning; the teams had told me that they were not going to travel until we’d given them an update on the conditions. We arrived at the ground at about 9.30am and the condition of the outfield was unchanged, it might even have been a little worse. With yesterday’s words of the groundsman still sounding in our ears about the amount of time the outfield needs to dry, it was decided that we would come back at 12.30 for another look. As I was leaving the field, Tony Greig who was there commentating for Ten Sports called over to me and asked me if there was any truth in the rumour, emanating from India that the series was about to be cancelled! I told him that I’d heard nothing and I was able to confirm this after I had talked to the Indian team manager who said that he was unaware of any decision like this.
There was some good news three hours later. We had had some sunshine and the outfield was drying but it still needed a little more time. No sooner had we decided that a game would be possible at 4pm than another black cloud appeared on the horizon! Another day had to be abandoned.

Back at the hotel a little over an hour later I had a call in my room from the Indian manager saying that the Sri Lankan board are now discussing with the BCCI about cancelling the series because of the awful weather. They would make an announcement at about 6.30pm. I phoned Duleep Mendis (SL CEO) and he confirmed that this is happening. There was great excitement that this series may be put out of its misery.

6.30pm came and went with no news. I tried Mendis’ phone and it was switched off. There were lots of Indian journalists in our hotel waiting for news. I was not being consulted at all which was upsetting; eventually we all heard that an announcement was due from the Sri Lankan board at 7.30pm. It had been agreed that this series was to be cancelled and rescheduled at some time in the not too distant future. Relief for everyone - players officials, media, supporters- who were all getting very tired of this awful weather. Billy and I had a very quick supper together before he ran off to pack and I went back to my room to watch some of the England Test. Little did we know what was about to kick off!

Ball tampering is an emotive phrase within cricket and to see what was unfolding at the Oval was both disappointing and intriguing.
I sat for 2 hours watching the television coverage which was being beamed live from the UK and listening to Gower, Botham, Hussain, Lloyd, Raja and Atherton all give their views on the position of the match, most of which were that Darrell Hair was wrong. Whatever you say about the decision the fact is that if they saw evidence of tampering they had to act. If they saw evidence of tampering then they followed the laws of the game to the letter and as I write, although the game has been forfeited for the first time in history we still don’t know the outcome of the charges that have been brought against Inzamam-ul-Haq over this matter.

19/08 – Saturday, More rain.

Another depressing picture greeted me as I pulled back the curtains this morning- the game today was not going to re-start on time!
After breakfast the PCT left the hotel at the normal time (8.30am) for the 5 minute drive to the ground. About 150 young men had been drafted in from the local area to come and help deal with the draining. These kids got paid about 300 rupees for each day which is the equivalent of about US$3. They were given a free t-shirt and a hat and they all seemed very happy to be out there in all weathers helping as much as they could.
The large plastic sheets could cover not only the square but the whole of the outfield as well. If the covers were dry they could be cleared from the ground in 45 minutes but if the covers had water lying on them, as they did most mornings it would take 1 and a half hours to clear the field.
Eventually all the covers were off, Billy and Asoka checked the uncovered field. There were 2 areas of the outfield which concerned them. Both were on opposite sides of the pitch but both were extremely soggy. The grounds-man informed us that he thought it would take at least 3 hours of sunshine for them to dry properly. It was warm and humid but no direct sunshine was popping through the clouds which meant a long wait. After much deliberation it was agreed that the minimum that ICC rules would allow was that this match had to be abandoned. As if to celebrate this decision the heavens opened and we all got wet as we headed for our transport back to the hotel.
The rest of the day was taken up with some swimming in the pool – well if you can’t beat the weather!!! – and watching the Test from England where Pakistan were very much on top!

More rain effects play

18/8/06 – Friday, today promised much as I pulled back the curtains.

I was greeted with sunshine bursting through my window so I went down to breakfast with my match day kit on. I saw Rahul Dravid in the breakfast room and told him that I’d spoken to the groundsman and he reckoned that play could start on time. Dravid then pointed out to me that rain was now falling outside and it was getting darker and darker. Sure enough it rained heavily; we went to the ground with heavy hearts only to have our worst fears confirmed that there were huge puddles all over the ground. We decided there was no point staying and that we would reconvene at 12.30pm. It was remarkable what the ground staff had done, no puddles a few damp patches but the umpires Billy B and Asoka de Silva decided play would start at 2.30pm. At last some play after a week of inactivity which seemed like a month! But our hopes were dashed just 3 overs into the contest as another huge black cloud appeared on the horizon and deposited its load all over the SSC. Very frustrating but you can’t beat the weather so it’s back here tomorrow to see if we can at last get a game of cricket in!

17/8/06 – Thursday

I woke up late this morning and after breakfast logged onto the internet in my room to discover that Stuart had been chosen as the ‘Young Player of the Year’ by the Cricket Writers Club of England. This was another proud moment for me as both myself and Stuart’s mother had been invited to the dinner where he was going to receive his award and because of the change in fixtures I would now be able to make it. The rest of the day passed relatively quickly because I was flying around on ‘cloud 9’, but I did visit the new ground that we’d be playing theODI matches at (the Singalese Sports Ground) and then I came back to the hotel to watch England playing against Pakistan in the 4th Test at the Oval.

16/8/06 – Wednesday, it’s a Day/Night game today.

Sri Lanka are due to play India for the 1st time in this series. I had Breakfast at the normal time but it’s wet again so the PCT decide to go to the ground at 11am for an early inspection. The Premadasa Stadium has had just about enough rain for the moment. The sun is shining but the ground is very wet so we decide to return to the ground again at 2.30pm for a further inspection. The inspection was not required because it rained again so today’s play was called off.
Billy Bowden had found a jewellery store just down the Galle road from the hotel. Qudsi Jewels is nothing to look at from the outside but inside it’s an Aladdin’s Cave. Sapphires are a speciality in this part of the World and I have always been taken by glinting jewels and sapphires are my birth stone so I ended up doing some business with Mr Qudsi.
I got back to the hotel to hear a rumour that South Africa were going home! It didn’t take long before the rumour to be confirmed. They had had an independent security revue which suggested that there were doubts over security. I was a little disappointed with the security revue because, as far as I was aware, no-one from the revue company (based in Dubai) had come to Sri Lanka to see the situation for themselves. However the SACU had rightly accepted the decision and decided to pull their players out of the tournament and out of the country. Nothing stands still for long in these parts, within the hour and with sponsors and TV to think about the Sri Lankan Cricket Board had come up with an alternative plan which involved a 3 ODI series between India and SL, which was accepted and due to start on Friday the 18th August.

Cricket takes a back seat.

15/08/06- Tuesday

I was woken at 7.15am by a phone call from Sudath Pasqual, the umpire and referees manager for Sri Lankan cricket. He told me that the game between Sri Lanka and South Africa had been called off because the South Africans were not happy to play. They had some issues with security and were not happy to continue in the tournament. Ironically, as I pulled back the curtains it was the most glorious day with almost clear blue skies and hot sunshine, just what the ground needed so that it could dry out. Unfortunately there was not going to be a game today!

The PCT met at breakfast and I had a number of phone calls to deal with in which I was trying to find out the South African position for myself as well as talking to the Sri Lankan board who were trying to arrange some cricket a least.

After languishing in the hotel for the rest of the morning I decided that I had to get out. I needed a pair of jeans so we went to a couple of shopping centres that our local liaison officer knew about. Firstly we went to the House of Fashion which is situated in Duplication Road. Very popular with the local families for all types of clothing for all the family. Very cheap, I didn’t buy any jeans but I bought a polo shirt for 550 rupees which is about £3. Then we headed off to a slightly more up-market centre called Odel which is opposite the Town Hall. Again I looked for some jeans and they had a large selection but I could find a pair long enough to fit my 6’4” frame. The prices were still fair, for example a pair of Levi 501’s would cost 5050 Rupees which would be about £30.
The evening was spent at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel just down the road from the Taj where we were staying. I had a lovely fish supper with a few beers and some wine and it cost me 4000 Rupees which I reckon was about £23.


14/08/06 – Monday, Match day.

On pulling back the curtains all was not well! Heavy rain had fallen during the night and there was still some drizzle in the air.

We all met at breakfast and decided that as this was a day/night match which was due to start at 2.30pm. The Playing Control Team (PCT) would go to the ground early to find out what the prospects of play were. We left the hotel at 11.30am to go to the Premadasa Stadium. When we arrived it was not a pretty sight for cricket fans. Most of the covers were still on, there were large puddles still sitting on the covers. The covers had been pulled back in some areas which revealed some very wet and soggy outfield. There was no chance of play so with a reserve day allowed for this tournament the umpires called todays play off, hoping that we would start promptly tomorrow.

When we got back to the hotel we decided to go and have some lunch. At just after 1pm we all heard a loud explosion of some sort – although Billy Bowden thought it was thunder!
The fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamils had shown signs of increasing, so there was a lot of speculation about what the explosion was. Sure enough it didn’t take long for news to filter through to us that it was indeed a bomb that had been aimed at the motorcade of the Pakistani High Commissioner as he was driving past, which was only 3kms from our hotel.

We were told to stay in the hotel until an assessment of the situation could be done and then we would be told what was going to happen. Now this had ramifications for the tournament because on the last day of the 2nd Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa another bomb had gone off, so this was the second in 2 weeks. The initial thoughts were that Sri Lanka and India were happy to continue with the event but that South Africa had had enough and were ready to take the next plane home. Those thoughts didn’t change for the whole of the day even though there were various meetings and phone calls that were meant to rectify and clarify the situation, the South Africans remained pessimistic.


13/08/06 – Sunday

The final day before the tournament, we continue to have rain.
It has rained everyday since I arrived and the forecast is for the rain to continue for the next week. Let’s hope they’re not right!

The morning was spent recovering from the excitement of Leicestershire’s Twenty20 Cup success of the night before. Breakfast over and it was back to the room to do some work on the computer for the captains meeting which was due to be held at 6pm. I made a couple of phone calls home to speak to my excited wife and to my very excited but extremely exhausted son after his exploits on the field the day before. He said it was the best day of his short cricketing life and that they didn’t get to bed much before 6am! Well you have to party after a victory like that! He was very pleased.

Before the captains meeting I like to get together with all the umpires for the series and find out if they have anything they want to discuss with the captains. We met at 5pm and the group included Billy Bowden, Peter Manuel, Asoka de Silva and TH Wijewardena all of whom I‘d met on my previous visit here in 2003. We also had the 4th umpires come to my room so it was quite a squeeze!
There were some good points raised so with those in mind we headed off to meet the captains. A captains meeting is designed to cover rules and regulations, any new initiatives the ICC have brought in and anything that the captains want to discuss in front of the other participating nations. This is so that there is complete clarity when it comes to match days. These meetings don’t usually last very long, on this occasion we were through in half an hour. Sri Lanka, South Africa and India were all looking forward to getting in some early season match practice, provided we could get some play!

Off to Sri Lanka for the ODI Series

10/08/06 - Departure day for the ODI series in Sri Lanka.

I wake to find out that all British airports are on the highest state of alert that there is which is causing chaos and disruption, just the news I wanted to wake up to – NOT!

I’m not supposed to leave the house for the airport until later. I try, unsuccessfully, to find out what the situation is like at Birmingham airport. I get a call from Emirates Airline (the ICC’s carrier), although there are extra security measures in place and some delays I am to report to the check in desk on time.

The car arrives at 11am to take me to the airport so it’s goodbye to Miche, my wife and Meg, my dog.During the journey I found out that my son, Stuart, has been announced in the England Champions Trophy squad of 30. A fathers pride knows no bounds! I don’t now care how long the delay at the airport would be, I would be smiling from ear to ear!

I had to check in all my baggage onto the aircraft which meant I had no hand luggage, but that didn’t bother me as I bought a book to read and some batteries for my camera in Duty Free. Our Emirates flight left almost on time at 2.30pm bound for Dubai and having done this trip many times I was looking forward to sampling the delightful cuisine and the fabulous entertainment system on board. The food was excellent and I watched a film called ‘Inside Man’ starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster. If you like thrillers with a twisty turning plot you’ll love this film! A brief 2 hours sleep made the 7 hour flight pass without me knowing and we were soon disembarking from the airport at a steamy Dubai.

There was a 3 hour wait for my connection to Colombo, I spend that time in the Business Class lounge, catch up on some emails and have a bit more food.

I boarded the flight for the 4 hour trip to Colombo, as we were leaving the plane I noticed Ranjan Madugalle, our Chief Referee -who was also on the flight having spent a day in Dubai having officiating in 3 Tests of the England/ Pakistan series. It was nice to catch up with him as we don’t very often see other referees. After a few brief words and the exchange of phone numbers it was time to head off to the hotel, the Taj Samudra on the seafront in Colombo.

11/8/06 – Checked in. The hotel is full as the Indian and Sri Lankan teams are here with 78 Indian journalists! The South Africans are in a hotel down the road. Made contact with Billy Bowden the ICC umpire officiating during the first 4 games of this series and then went to bed to catch up on some sleep.

12/8/06 – Met Billy at breakfast at about 9am, chatted for about an hour whilst enjoying some cereal and toast. Sri Lanka is a great place forgem stones and in particular sapphires. Billy was very keen for me to come and have a look at some as so after a morning on the computer we met at 2pm and went shopping! There are 3 ways of going Gem shopping in Colombo the first is getting into a Tuk Tuk and let the driver take you to one - they are generally on commission so you won’t get the best deals. You can also ask at the hotel, they generally have shops attached which are still relatively expensive. However if you know someone you can trust you’re on to a winner, the great thing about cricket is you get to know the locals who point you in the right direction. This was our story and the shop we went to was full of the most gorgeous stones at very good prices. I was never going to buy at the first visit but I couldn’t drag Billy away, he was almost acting as a shop assistant, thumbing through every stone he could, talking to the owner and generally being Billy.

A ticket for the game the on Monday got us to the most beautiful Buddhist Temple called Gangaram which means River Temple. They have an elephant standing to welcome you a magnificent sight with a pond full of Koi Carp and the most magnificent treasures and statues, they claim to have the ‘smallest Buddha statue in the world’ you could only really see it through a magnifying glass which they had and it certainly was tiny. We met some monks who gave us a guided tour and then gave us a blessing – there’s a war going on here between the Tamils and the government – so I thought we needed all the protection we could muster! It was excellent.Then it was back to the hotel for a cocktail party to celebrate the launch of the series.

Lots of people there, not my scene really as there were a lot of journalists invited. I kept getting asked about bowling actions so I made my excuses and left. But there were more important things to do....

My son, Stuart and his Leicestershire colleagues were on TV playing the Twenty20 Cup semi-final. As we’re 4½ in front of the UK over here the match started at 4pm local time. I missed the first 45 minutes of the game but caught the last of the Leicestershire innings. They set Essex a fairly stiff target of 174 to win. Leicestershire managed to win quite comfortably with Stuart getting the danger man Ronnie Irani out early for nought, it was a job well done. Stuart and the Leicester boys were in the final which wouldn’t be shown until 11.40pm local time, but I wasn’t going to miss it!

The other semi was between Nottinghamshire (my old side) and Surrey. Nottinghamshire won, it was an all East Midlands final.

Leicester again won the toss and batted and set an imposing target of 178 to win thanks largely to Darren Maddy who finished unbeaten on 86. Nottinghamshire got of to a good start thanks to Stephen Fleming and David Hussey but with Stuart getting Hussey out and Fleming falling as well, Leicester were in the driver’s seat. There was still some tension to come but Leicestershire wouldn’t be denied and they were crowned Twenty20 champions, let the party begin!!It was 2.30am in Sri Lanka when the game finished but I was soo excited I couldn’t get to sleep for a while. What a proud Dad I felt, wishing I could have been there to join in the celebrations for my sons first major cricket trophy.

Oh well the lot of a Match Referee I suppose!

Cricket World welcomes Chris

Chris Broad, ICC Match Referee and former England opening batsman, has joined Cricket World® as Media Consultant.

“It’s great to have Chris on board” says Alastair Symondson, Editor of Cricket World®. “He has a wealth of experience, as a player, coach and currently as an ICC match referee”

Chris Broad, known for wearing his heart on his sleeve on the field, played for Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire and England. “I’m thrilled and delighted to be involved” says Chris, “not only on the magazine side of things but also with the website. The reporting of cricket is expanding as fast as the game and I can’t wait to be a part of that”.

Chris has become a key member of the ICC match team. “As a match referee I am the ICCs representative. I am there to make sure that anything wrong – from an unsatisfactory pitch right through to poor food- is rectified. My priority is to keep the game moving and that is at the core of the match referees criteria”. Recent issues such as bowling actions and over rates have kept match referees on their toes.

Away from the stress and controversy of the International game Chris is an eight handicap and man about the house; “Golf is something I’m very keen on, it keeps me fit and apart from walking the dog it’s the only exercise I really get”. Although Chris retired from the game in 1995 his son Stuart is carving himself a name as a rising star in the county game, “I dedicate a lot of my time to watching my son play”.

Watching his son play has not tempted Chris back to the crease; “I don’t miss playing in the slightest, the body told me enough was enough and I haven’t missed playing since. I do miss is the camaraderie of the dressing room though; the banter between team mates is unique. But having said that the umpiring community has a great spirit and we get on really well.”

Chris is off to Sri Lanka on the 11th Aug for the ODI series with South Africa and then it is the champions’ trophy.

Chris Broad

Chris Broad was a exciting cricketer. After struggling to gain appropriate recognition at Gloucestershire Chris moved to Nottingham, where he was selected for the England Tour of Australia in 1985/1986 in which he famously scored three consecutive centuries, 162 in Perth, 116 at Adelaide and 112 in the Ashes-winning innings victory at Melbourne.

He played against Pakistan in 1987 and then scored 116 in Faisalabad in the winter. At Christchurch later that winter, he made 117 v New Zealand. Chris scored 54 and 16 in the opening match of the series against the West Indies in 1988. He returned for the first two Tests against the Australians in 1989 before he joined the rebel tour of South Africa that winter. That ended his Test career with a record of 1661 runs from his 25 matches, averaging just shy of 40.

Chris is currently an ICC match referee and enjoys watching his son, Stuart, rise through the ranks of English cricket. Stuart was recently named in Englands Champions Trophy squad and has high hopes of playing in the forthcoming Ashes.