There have been quite a few funny instances on the cricket which have featured umpires in a prominent role. While some of these incidents were pretty intentional, others just happened in the spur of the moment.Although there have been several occasions where umpires have made us laugh, here are the top five of them which will definitely bring a smile on your face.
The first incident involves umpire Aleem Dar. In the 5th 2010/11 Ashes Test at Sydney, Dar showed his funny side when he tried to run Matt Prior out after the ball slipped out of the bowler’s hand. However, an incident even funnier than this occurred when the ball was being changed during the England innings. Aleem Dar first gestured to the bowler to throw the ball towards him by opening up both hands as if to take the catch. However, as the ball was coming towards him, Dar placed his hands beside his hips from behind his back to catch the ball cleanly.
The second incident involves umpire Billy Bowden. Glenn McGrath, who was bowling the final over, decided to bring some more fun to the proceedings and tried to emulate the infamous underarm delivery by Trevor Chappell. Before he could deliver the ball, Bowden rushed forward to stop McGrath, pulled out a red card and showed it to the bowler in his usual theatrical manner. McGrath too, was seen shrugging his shoulders pretending to be disgusted while he had a smile about the umpire’s actions.
The third incident involves umpire Daryl Harper. Humour was one of the great assets of the Australian umpire and he had some funny experiences during his long umpiring stint. One of these came during a Test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at Kandy in 2003.A stray dog somehow managed to make it to the field of play and started to run about helter-skelter. At one point of time, the dog was seen heading towards Daryl Harper even as the umpire tried his best to avert its attention, much to everyone’s amusement.
The fourth incident once again involves Billy Bowden. It was the 2013 Champions Trophy encounter between Sri Lanka and England at the Oval. Ravi Bopara of England smashed one right down the ground forcing Bowden to duck and lose his hat in the process. Conditions were windy, so the hat flew away even as the Kiwi umpire gave chase. The moment Billy reached out for his hat, he fell down and ended up doing splits; however, he finally did manage to gain control over his hat. With this incident, Billy Bowden added another gem to his unbelievable collection of funny incidents.
The fifth incident involves umpire Dickie Bird. There are a number of popular incidents where Bird has displayed his outstanding sense of humour on the cricket pitch. A hilarious one happened during a Test match between England and West Indies at Old Trafford. The great umpire had been waiting for a long time to go to the toilet, so he said to the players, “I’m very sorry, gentlemen, but nature calls” and quickly hurried off the field. Dickie Bird’s actions left the players as well as the crowd in splits.
