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Excellent fielding from Umpire in 4th ODI, India vs Australia

Umpire Richard Kettleborough took a hard hit

The 4th ODI between India and Australia in the ongoing Victoria Bitter series has seen Umpire Richard Kettleborough sustain a bitter injury. He does have some quick reflexes though. Perhaps had his reflexes been a tad slower he could have avoided a painful hit to his shin. He has just been replaced by Paul Wilson. He took a hit on the shin from a straight drive by Aaron Finch. At first glance from this angle it appeared that Umpire Kettleborough jumped right in the trajectory of the straight drive by Aaron Finch.

Umpire Kettleborough anticipated the ball hitting him

A closer look shows that the ball came off the bowler’s hand.

The umpire took a hard hit to the shin from his pre-emptive jump

Being hit on the shin bones can result in a painful injury. Some athletes in sports such as MMA are known to roll glass bottles across their shins, in the action of rolling a ‘roti’ in order to numb the nerve endings on the shin. They do this as that is a painful area to take a hit. There are far better ways to condition your shin bones than that though.

It is understandable that umpire Kettleborough probably never had occassion to condition his shins to take such a hit. This incident which resulted in him eventually walking off the field should beget the question of safety equipment for umpires. A shin guard would have made a world of difference in this case.

Here is a look at the incident:

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