1. Sport
The Rivelin Telegraphrivelintelegraph.co.uk Sunday 8th February 2015
Umpires have the hardest job in
cricket with their every decision
closely analysed and their errors
exposed to the cricketing world,
particularly at international level.
This is perhaps why the reintro-
duction of ‘home’ umpires in test
match cricket is now discussed on
an annual basis at the Internation-
al Cricket Council.
They are already used in the Twen-
ty20 format and one official is lo-
cal in one-day internationals, but
there is a growing cry for them to
be used in tests once more, rather
than neutral umpires.
The last Ashes series in particular
showed the need for home um-
pires as only four of the ICC’s doz-
en elite umpires were eligible to
officiate with the other eight from
Australia and England.
But would having ‘home’ umpires
bring about better decisions on
lbw’s?
A recent study by Dr Ian Grego-
ry-Smith from the University of
Sheffield supports a view that
when it comes to lbw’s, any per-
ceived bias has disappeared due
to having neutral umpires.
The study which looked at 1000
test matches played between
1986 and 2012 found that with
two home umpires the visiting
team suffered more lbw’s than
the home team; with one neutral
the bias dropped by half; and with
two neutrals the differential disap-
peared altogether.
“The advantages are that we have
loads of observations to look at, so
from a statistical point of view we
can be very confident about the
results that we found,” said Greg-
ory Smith.”
“We can try to isolate the bias by
controlling for other things that
may affect the number of lbws you
may get in a match; such as pitch
conditions of different test venues
– you’re going to get some bouncy
pitches that will mean lbws are
less likely. Little things like that
we can add in as controls but it
doesn’t seem to make a whole lot
of difference, the main thing was
that there was this bias,” he said.
The thought of home umpires
seems daunting with the evidence
presented by the economist, but
with the introduction of the Deci-
sion Review System (DRS) many
argue this would cancel out any
umpire bias as controversial deci-
sions made by an umpire can be
overturned with this technology.
There will always be an on-going
battle in Cricket about bringing
back home umpires which may or
may not happen in the forseeable
future.
Nick Matthew stormed to victory in the
final of the AJ Bell British Squash Grand
Prix after defeating Frenchman, Mathieu
Castagnet, 3-0 on games at the National
Squash Centre in Manchester.
The win saw the world number three be-
come only the ninth ever player to win 30
PSA World Tour titles.
Matthew managed to recover from his
physically draining battle against Gregory
Gaultier, in the semi-final to comfortably
beat Castagnet, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 in 50-min-
utes.
Castagnet who overcame the world num-
ber one Mohamed Elshorbagy in the
quarter-finals, started the brighter out of
the two and opened up an early lead in the
first game. But, the resistance and experi-
ence of the Hillsborough man proved too
much for Castagnet as Matthew soon took
control of the court.
“There was a big momentum change in
the first game, I was 7-4 down, and I had
to make a big push. I knew that it was his
first final and he was riding the crest of a
wave,” said Matthew.
“I had to slow that momentum of his, put a
few doubts in his mind, and once I got that
first game, I sort of went from strength to
strength. That was a crucial point in the
match,” he said.
The three time world champion and two-
time Commonwealth Games Gold Medal
winner proved that age is just a number
as the 34-year-old added another British
Grand Prix title to his list of accolades.
Snooker’s biggest and richest event, the
World Championship, will remain in Shef-
field until 2017, despite huge speculation
of the prestigious tournament moving
overseas.
The new deal between World Snooker Lim-
ited and Sheffield City Council will see the
Crucible Theatre host the championship until
2017 which marks its 40th anniversary.
Fans of the sport will once again be part of
the unique and electric atmosphere created at
the Crucible as they watch the world’s best
Snooker’s staying
home at Crucible
battle it out for the iconic trophy.
The event is worth over £5 million to the city
mainly through media coverage in the UK,
Europe and the Far East with a staggering au-
dience of 285 million viewers.
The deal also includes a new International
trade partnership which will see the city pro-
moting itself to investors at World Snooker
Tour events held outside the UK.
Councillor Julie Dore, Leader of Sheffield
City Council said: “We are delighted to keep
the World Championship in Sheffield. It’s
very important to Sheffield because for those
two weeks it puts the city right in the spot-
light not just nationally but internationally.”
“This deal shows that Sheffield has real am-
bition. We are determined to use this part-
nership with World Snooker to grow their
audiences and open up new global business
opportunities for the city.”
Barry Hearn, Chairman of World Snooker
said: “Snooker fans and players alike will be
thrilled to hear this news as Sheffield and the
Crucible are such an integral part of the his-
tory of the World Championship. “
“Many thousands of people make snooker’s
greatest pilgrimage each year to witness the
intense and magical ambience that the Cru-
cible generates.”
“Many of snooker’s great names have lifted
the famous trophy at the Crucible, including
Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sul-
livan and the reigning champion Mark Sel-
by.”
The 2015 World Championship commences
on the 8th April with tickets still available.
Kam Sangha
Matthew still
has the keys
to success in
British Grand
Prix triumpth
Could a
return for
‘home’
umpires be
unhealthy
for cricket?
Kam Sangha
Sheffield Wednesday offer the cheapest
matchday experience across England’s top
four divisions according to a survey conduct-
ed by the BBC.
The study shows a day out at Hillsborough
can cost as little as £17.80, including a match
ticket, pie (£3), programme (£3) and a cup of
tea (£1.80).
The match day ticket price of £10 only ap-
plies to two fixtures this season, with the next
cheapest ticket costing £25.
Director of communications at Sheffield
Wednesday, Trevor Braithwait said: “We are
delighted to learn we offer the cheapest day
out for our supporters in the local area.
We conducted extensive research over the
summer and gauged supporter feedback to
arrive at what has clearly proved an extreme-
ly competitive pricing structure.”
“Overall, the survey reflects well on Wednes-
day, underlining our ethos as a club with its
community at heart,” he said.
However, fans are unhappy with Wednes-
day’s cheapest season ticket costing above
the Championship average (£343) at £360.
The most expensive match ticket at Hillsbor-
ough is slightly below the divisional average
(£33.52) at £32.
Nick Matthew (34) celebrates win against world number 15 in British final
Wednesday come
out on top in
cheapest match
day experience
Kam Sangha
King Khan’s 30,000 boxing shorts
are nappa KO for designer Sophie
Amir Khan recently paraded in the most ex-
pensive shorts in boxing when he defeated
Devon Alexander in Las Vegas.
The shorts were made of white nappa leather,
silk and a waistband consisting of 24-car-
at gold fabric and are reported to be worth
£30,000.
The garment was created by Sheffield firm
Fight Label and designed by Sophie Whittam
who works for the company.
She said: “Originally we weren’t looking at
putting any gold in the shorts. We’d looked
at different colours like green and white be-
cause some of Khan’s family wanted green
for the Pakistan flag.”
“But then a business called 24KT came along
and approached us and said we’d like to offer
some of our fabric to be used in the shorts.”
“The gold is what made the headlines.”
Khan has since donated the shorts to help re-
build a school in Peshawar where 132 school-
children were shot dead by the Taliban.
Sophie is scheduled to meet up with Khan
next week to discuss design plans for shorts
to wear in his next fight which is yet to be
announced.
Full story available on website
Hillsborough man cruises to a 3-0
final win over frenchmen Castagnet
By Kam Sangha
Sophie with Khan showcasing the 24-carat gold boxing shorts (middle)
Page 60
The Cruicible will host the Snooker World Championship until 2017