MANY young passionate cricket-lovers choose to either develop themselves as a batsman or a bowler, but Ryan Banwarie has taken a different path.

He has chosen to become an umpire, and at age 25, he is the youngest professional umpire in Guyana.
Banwarie told the Guyana Chronicle that at age 22; he decided that he could serve the game better officiating on the field rather than in the capacity of a batsman or a bowler.
Describing his brief playing days representing the Police Under-19 team as exciting, Banwarie said he was an average cricketer and played the role of a batting all-rounder. He said he never scored a hundred or a fifty, but recalled a memorable occasion.
It was a match against the Malteenoes Sports Club. When he strode onto the field, his team were in trouble, and, rising to the occasion, he slammed a quick-fire 38 to take them across the finish line in the nail-biter match.
As a bowler, the young man said his returns were not close to stellar, but his stellar moments were when he clean-bowled a batsman, scattering his stumps, with his fast-medium pace.
This achievement, he said, brought great delight to his heart as it would to any fast bowler, but the occasions were not many.
Banwarie currently officiates at the Inter-county level, the highest level of local cricket. He is hoping to be part of the West Indies Junior Cricket Umpire Panel to perform duties in the regional Under-15 and Under-19 matches.
Umpires at the junior level are stringently scrutinised, and an elevation takes them to the senior panel, which presides in all First Class matches. These include the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the regional 20/20, 50 overs and four-day competitions.
The umpires in these matches are closely watched by experts from the International Cricket Council (ICC), and those who are outstanding, stand a chance of being recruited by the international cricketing body.

MY DREAM
“This is my dream,” Banwarie told the Guyana Chronicle, saying that he hopes one day to officiate in the international arena.
The young man, who reaped average success on the field as a cricketer, has enjoyed greater success in his quest to become an umpire.
He wrote the preliminary examination administered by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) in 2012, passing with 77 per cent, and in the process qualifying to preside in First and Second Division matches.
But this was not good enough for someone who wants to scale the highest rung of the ladder.
The following year, he sat the West Indies Final Examination with 74 other candidates in the region, and he not only passed, but aced the examination.
In the examination offered by the West Indies Cricket Umpires Association, he scored 93 per cent, topping the region, and shortly after, he took another examination and aced that too.
He did the West Indies Oral and Practical Examinations, scoring 59 in a possible score of 60 in the practical test and 31 in a total of 40 marks in the oral examination.
Altogether, he attained 90 per cent, placing among the top students in the region.

DUEL
Banwarie said performing duties on the field has always been exiting and he enjoys every minute of the duel between bat and ball.
In the tussle, he said sledging is an integral part of the game, contending that it injects life into it by “firing up” the players, thereby making the contest more competitive.
According to the young umpire, a lively exchange on the field is always good for the game.
He said “a batsman playing and missing” in a limited overs match and the fielders teasing, “don’t out him, sorry for him, he can’t bat, he gon draw the game for dem,” contributes to the liveliness of the game.
The umpire said it not only brings clean laughter on the field, but it motivates the batsman to be on top of his game, and to silence the talkative fielders, by keeping them busy, chasing for the ball in all parts of the ground.
But he said personal comments such as berating a person’s perceived gender, sex life, drinking habits, family members or loved ones are intolerable, and when they are made, he moves swiftly to put them down.
Banwarie said cricket is a gentleman’s game, and during his time so far as an umpire, he has never been in a situation where he had to deal with an out-of-control situation on the field.
But, he said there were occasions he had to fine players for dissent.
The role of an umpire is to ensure proper management of the players on the field, and umpires are graded based on their performance in match control.
An escalation on the field reflects poorly on the part of the umpire, and Banwarie told the Guyana Chronicle that when the banter changes from lively comments to bitter retorts, he steps in, and in a sharp voice orders, “Gentlemen, let’s move on.”

By Tajeram Mohabir