Spotlight On Our Valued Volunteers: Philip Nippress

Cricket has a unique problem in the Red Centre. Alice Springs is characterised by a transient population with relatively high levels of migration into and out of the township. This creates a real challenge for ASCA to recruit and retain umpires to officiate their Senior Competition. Enter Philip Nippress, who over the past 20 years has (often single-handedly) umpired nearly 350 Senior ASCA matches.

For context, there are currently only a handful of qualified umpires in Alice Springs; and this has been the case for years. Philip has been the ubiquitous presence umpiring for ASCA, with an additional few umpires passing through Alice Springs across the years.

It’s a hard sell. ASCA don’t have the resources to allocate two umpires per match, so Philip will umpire one of the A-Grade matches by himself. During the one-day portion of the season this can mean being out in the middle as sole umpire for over six hours in the extreme heat of an Alice Springs summer.

If Philip isn’t available to umpire, the teams have to nominate players to umpire the matches themselves. More often than not, the players in the A-Grade match that Philip isn’t officiating are forced to resort to this, and this practice is standard for B-Grade matches and below. By making himself available to umpire most Saturdays during each season, Philip is doing all he can to help ensure cricket is as safe and enjoyable as possible for the players:

“When teams have to resort to umpiring the games themselves, there is more conflict between the teams (who play each other frequently), as there is discontent about the veracity of umpiring decisions" Philip said.

"When teammates are required to give each other "out" there can also be disharmony within the team. Even though I occasionally make mistakes or make decisions which are unpopular, that discontent is not then directed at other players and therefore does not affect the players' relationships; resulting in a more enjoyable experience between players. The lower senior grades often don't have an umpire and the above frustrations are quite common”.

Despite these challenging circumstances, Philip insists that he finds umpiring a pleasurable experience:

“I’ve now been umpiring longer than all but 2-3 players in the competition have been playing senior cricket. I have seen my role as largely one of taking an interest in and encouraging players while they are out on the field, while maintaining a sense of order. I make a point of promoting goodwill between teams at every opportunity. I believe that most of the players trust me to make correct and appropriate decisions and are pleased to see me turn up to umpire their game”.

This isn’t the case for all umpires however. Cricket umpiring can be a very challenging job for inexperienced people to take on, especially when they are the only umpire officiating at the game. Often the majority of players are older than them and know more about the game, which can be an intimidating environment for a new umpire.

From time to time when a new umpire has wanted to gain some matchday experience, Philip has made himself available for shadowing and lets them officiate at square leg (initially) and at the bowlers' end. This allows Philip to provide regular input and feedback in real time in order to help more inexperienced umpires gain the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to help deliver the game.

With the reality of struggling to recruit new umpires though, Philip and his ASCA colleagues have tailored their ‘umpire development’ program to offer upskilling sessions to the local players that are often forced to officiate their own matches. Realistically, they know that this is the most practical way of ensuring that those around them have the appropriate skills and confidence required to officiate matches; thus, making cricket in Alice safe and enjoyable for as many people as possible.

In the absence of a team of umpires to share the experience with, Philip’s focus instead lies with supporting and encouraging the players he is umpiring; praising their efforts when they have played well the previous week, encouraging them if they find themselves in a challenging or difficult situation on the field.

“I don’t like to umpire in an authoritarian way, we’re not policemen. There’s a human aspect to the game of cricket, we’re all there because we’re passionate about the same sport, our love of the game, and I want to help maintain that camaraderie”.

Phillip’s story is an important one to tell in order to highlight the reality of the challenges faced by those in more remote regions - and how, through the passion and dedication of volunteers such as Philip, we can still find ways to make cricket safe and enjoyable for as many participants as possible.

In 2017, Philip received Life Membership of the Alice Springs Cricket Association in recognition of the remarkable contribution he has made to keeping cricket alive and well in the Red Centre.