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276
UMPIRING.

will be for him and his prospects at the game. There is much that is difficult, monotonous, and thankless in an umpire's task. So perhaps it will not be out of place to remind all those who take part in the game to avoid showing disgust at umpires' decisions. I am afraid umpires sometimes meet with unkind and even abusive language. Never abuse an umpire. You may meet him again, and he is hardly likely to be prejudiced in your favour if you talk to him as if he were a pickpocket when he has given you out.

It should be unnecessary, but I am not quite sure that it is, to advise all players, be they schoolboys or otherwise, to obey the decision of the umpires at all times without any outward sign of what they feel, and to show a sportsmanlike spirit by putting up in the most cheerful manner with occasional blunders on the umpire's part. This applies to every one—batsman, bowler, and fieldsman alike.