Stumped before we start
November 24, 2020 by John Gascoigne It’s an odd game to begin with. Men hurling a leather orb, trying to dislodge two grooved sticks atop...
Winter Cricket: Diplomacy wins the day
July 20, 2018 by John Gascoigne Umpire John Gascoigne reports on Melbourne’s cricket scene as players squish their way towards finals. So...
Almanac Cricket: Joy in the Juniors
Balwyn twins Sunny and Nali Plant, 14, began playing team cricket just three years ago after their initial jousts in the backyard. Sunny...
Why don't ya get a proper job!
Between summers, a man's still gotta earn a buck ... This job was no walk in the park. It’s 20 years since the Australian Football League...
Umpiring - Age no impediment, or guarantee
Teenagers showing early promise deliver old lessons. Never work with children or animals, WC Fields famously cautioned. Having put my...
At the soggy grassroots
For cricket's fanatics, no conditions are too hostile. As welcome rain tumbled down around Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, motorists may...
Diplomacy wins the day
So much of cricket umpiring, including Melbourne’s winter competition — now two matches shy of the 2018 finals — involves much more than...
Thwack, Thwack, Thwack
Occasionally, even cricket’s lower grades throw up something remarkable. It can be a skillset maintained over a five-hour ‘day’, worthy...
Playing At Dog Poo Park
Tis the season for sneakers and hoodies … Melbourne’s mid-year cricket competition is under way in slushy parks under leaden skies. Years...
Cricket’s Uniqueness can never be Dismissed
Cricket never fails to intrigue with its curious means of batsmen’s dismissal and the litany of fine and flawed actions that will precede...
