A few weeks back I mentioned the role of the umpire at square leg and the decisions he has to make.
Sometimes he will find he has to move to point to be in a better position to make the correct decision. For example, the sun could be in his eyes so he cannot see the popping crease clearly, a close fielder could be blocking his view or there are fielders on the boundary that could move so that there are three behind square - in which case he is to call ‘no ball’. Then there is the case of a batter having a runner, which is another reason for moving to point.
It seems a few players are not aware that this is necessary to give a correct decision. They seem to think all correct decisions have to be made only when stood at square leg as the comments have been ‘how can you see if a batter is out, you are in the wrong position?’.
During the latest Test match there were instances where fielders left the field of play, a few of them bowlers. They cannot come on and bowl straight away upon returning. They have to wait until they have been on the field of play the length of time they were off. There used to be a 15-minute allowance, but that is no longer the case. The fielder has to ask permission of the umpire to come back on - if not and he returns and fields the ball, five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side .
What about a batter? If the player is off the field at the end of the innings he cannot open the batting. He has to wait until his penalty time is over and then can bat at the fall of a wicket. This rule was brought in to stop fielders having some down time before opening the batting. What about if he has not been on the field at all during the game because he has arrived late? I once saw a player held up in traffic only arrive in time to see his team-mates leaving the field for the tea interval. In those days he could open the batting but not now. He has to wait 90 minutes or until five wickets are down - whichever is the sooner - before he can bat.
