EDP Umpire Consultant slays them in Rome

On 30 April Graham Cooper visited Rome to umpire 2 matches in the Italian National League. The first match on 1 May was between Roma and Brera and, despite arriving at the ground some 2 hours late (due to heavy Bank Holiday traffic), Graham enjoyed a fascinating match between two enthusiastic sides. In a reduced overs match (35 instead of 50) Brera eventually outclassed Roma by some 75 runs. In the second game, played at Capannelle Racecourse (with a race meeting going on at the same time), the home side were too strong for a visiting Lazio team and came out victors by 4 wickets.

The matches are played over 50 overs with the added regulations that each team is only allowed 3 foreigners per team (4 if the 4th is from the EU) and that foreigners can only bowl 50% of the overs. Also, foreigners cannot bowl consecutive overs, neither can foreigners bat together until all Italians have batted. These stringent regulations ensure that the Italians are kept in the game at all times and ensure that they are allowed to develop their abilities - in other words the foreigners do not take over completely and monopolise the game at the expense of local talent.

Sportsmanship was high on the agenda and, although competitive, the players fully appreciated the Spirit of the Game, fitting in well with the European Spirit of Cricket Weekend that coincided with the second game.

Graham would highly recommend a visit to Rome to umpire and if any umpire would like to make such a journey then he is sure the Italian Cricket Federation would welcome them with open arms.