By Rich Edwards

Pivotal: Umpires are vital to grassroots cricket and key figures in any club

A SHORTAGE of umpires was just one of many headaches facing leagues up and down the country as the cricket season began in the characteristic cool of the late English spring.
It’s an age-old problem. Last December, the Cricket Yorkshire website delved into the archives to illustrate the point. Quoting the Telegraph and Argus from November 1975, it relayed the details of the Bradford League’s annual report.
“Unless we can encourage new recruits, I can envisage that bef...