CRICKET: The blokes who know the score

Anendra Singh
Have you ever wondered what the jokers in the 4m x 1.5m cubicle at the corner of Chapham Stand at McLean Park, Napier, get up to when a game of cricket is on?
It's where the old meets the new. It is where three to four scorers keep things ticking over amid the din that the corporate beer-swilling types create across the other end of the stand.
A peek into the booth during the State Championship match between Central and Northern Districts a fortnight ago revealed a hive of activity - one that will intensify on Wednesday when the Sri Lankans play the Black Caps.
At one end sits Len Osborne, of Palmerston North, who does things "the old-fashioned" way, laboriously jotting down figures with different coloured pens, while trying to fiddle with other gadgets on the table, such as a stopwatch, alarm clock and a table lamp.
In the middle sits Napier Old Boys' Marist cricketer Nick Phelps, who quickly informs me he's just relieving someone. Phelps, who will miss the one-dayer because he is holidaying in Australia over the Christmas Holidays, quietly feeds the laptop computer with data by casually stroking a couple of keys before burying his head in a copy of the Hawke's Bay Today.
Near the narrow doorway, half his body outside the cubicle, Garth Jones, of Napier, drapes himself comfortably into a chair, tweaking the switches on the control panel and looking up to see whether the electronic scoreboard is responding accordingly.
Minutes earlier, I had observed the aftermath when the trio made a dash for fresh air during a drinks break. Jostling for prime positions on the table were a couple of pairs of binoculars, a table lamp covered with a yellow dust cloth of the variety found in a car's glove compartment, a bunch of spotted bananas, a bag of lollies and a pear gnawed down to the core.
Osborne, a serial mumbler who commutes religiously from Palmerston North to cover matches, says his work is a great back-up in case of a powercut or systems failure.
"In the internationals, we'll have four people up here - somebody from New Zealand Cricket will be doing a book for the Sri Lankans."
Osborne bemoans the fact that scorebooks of different countries vary in size and shape.
"The books vary considerably. The South African one, for instance, is more longish. The blooming New Zealand book goes this way," he says as he indicates with his hands from the glass window to show the extension of the table to accommodate the double A3-size book.
After each wicket falls, Osborne should effectively make 17 different entries, but he settles for 14, comfortable in the knowledge that he can tweak the remaining three afterward. That does not include his hardcopy wagon wheel he fills out to reflect the batsmen's strokes in different parts of the ground.
CD Cricket chief executive officer Blair Furlong highlights the significance of the scorers' input behind the scenes but says a Hawke's Bay scorer would be ideal.
"Paul Hannan used to do our scoring for us when he left school but now he's got a proper job.
"Len comes all the way from Palmy North. We're in the hunt for one from here," Furlong says.
Osborne says there's no time to get bored in the booth, as Jones returns from grabbing some fresh air.
Jones: "How's that over gone, Len?"
Osborne: "Dot, dot, dot, dot, one, one."
Turning to Phelps: "How would you declare Nick? (as CD head for a 500-run total)."
Phelps: "Mmm ... I'd give them 10 overs (about 4.15pm and two hours away from stumps)."
Just then umpire Doug Cowie motions to children near the sight screen to move away after CD batsman Bevan Griggs complains.
Osborne: "I didn't know Griggsy's eyes were so bloody good."
In the next delivery from ND bowler Graeme Aldridge, Griggs feathers the ball to wicketkeeper Blair Watling, who swallows it up with his gloves.
"There's a lot of work for me but these guys just press a button and it (computer) does it all for them," Osborne says, scribbling furiously as Griggs walks off in frustration, slamming his bat at the entrance to the Harris Stand.
A discussion follows on the state of the pitch and whetherstumps will be pulled late again that night. Phelps to Osborne: "You'd better signal. He's (umpire Cowie) indicating a leg bye."
Osborne flicks the table lamp switch and Cowie resumes.
There have been some lighter moments during one-dayers, with recollections of someone wishing someone-else a happy birthday during last season's South Africa-Black Caps match via a request on the electronic scoreboard.
However, Furlong says CD Cricket will not entertain any such requests during internationals in case they disrupt or complicate the scoring.
The three scorers are unanimous that you have to love cricket to do the job.
Jones sniggers: "Yeah, I suppose you'd have to love cricket."
Appropriately, Osborne has the last say: "We're not grumbling about the remuneration but I suppose you have to have enthusiasm for the game."