Arm guard hampers umpire’s movement

Australian umpire Bruce Oxenford was once again seen with a protective arm guard on his left-hand while officiating in the first ODI against New Zealand at Dharmasala on Sunday.

The 57-year-old ICC umpire has been using this shield for the limited over games. However, the question remains whether the use of it restricts the movement of the umpire.

“Looking at the photograph of Bruce compared to a helmet, I would imagine that the shield is restricting the use of one arm during umpiring, maybe creating difficulty when signalling to the scorers (eg. wides, sixes, dead balls etc),” Karl Wentzel, another umpire from Australia says.

Interestingly, Wentzel was believed to be the first umpire, who made use of the helmet.

“Also this (use of arm-guard) may introduce an object that may cause an injury when accidentally colliding with a player,” Wentzel further added.

“Whilst I did not try an arm shield for protective equipment I tried every other type of helmet (including baseball, hockey goalie, hockey full back helmets etc.) and I found that the cricket helmet was the most comfortable and practical to use as protection.”

“The cricket helmet does not cling to the face during long hours of standing and allows for plenty of airflow and for you to wear a sweat band underneath on a hot day,” Wentzel said.