How the bloody hell was that? went one of the more memorable yet printable appeals to which I have borne witness. Weve all been there - the intractable umpire, the dead-in-the-water appeal, the shake of the head, the muttering. Then there was the one that resulted in a long silence from the umpire, followed by the words I was waiting for you to walk. It may be a friendly game, but when the batsman is caught flat-footed and back in the crease as the ball raps the pad, plumb as plumb can be, and is yet again given not out, tempers can begin to fray.But then again, any lbw decision is always a travesty so far as one side is concerned: for the bowler, its always out; for the batsman, never. In between these two certainties is the grey area of discretion in which the poor and increasingly beleaguered umpire must wallow, knowing full well that while one side will congratulate them on an excellent decision, the other will scowl and mutter vague imprecations. Not only this but their decision will continue to be questioned during tea, over a pint, the breakfast table, even the end-of-season dinner.At school, maybe (oh lordy) 40-odd years ago, I was told, The umpire is right whether hes right or wrong, but the times they are a-changin. Not only has master Zimmerman become a Nobel Laureate, players now challenge decisions as a matter of course, there are plans afoot for a red-card system, and apparently they even let women umpire now.There has been much criticism of the spurious appeals made during the most recent Test match between England and India. Some armchair commentators have gone so far as to call such behaviour cheating, which it plainly isnt - gamesmanship, yes - but the umpires are pretty much on top of things (Bruce Oxenfords reaction to Jonny Bairstows ultimately successful review in the fourth Test notwithstanding).According to Charles Davis, some 77% of appeals in Tests over the past 16 years have been for the humble lbw, of which 19% have been successful. As he suggests, the low success of lbw appeals can be put down to optimistic bowlers and the complexity of the law: even when bowling teams are confident enough to review under the DRS system, only 20% of not out lbws were overturned.Of course, it is only in internationals that the DRS is available - or so youd think. We have it in club cricket too, it just isnt binding. This second opinion is sought to provide a sort of moral arbitration, a justification after the fact to countermand perceived injustice. And its sought after practically every decision: its a rare batsman who returns to the pavilion mouthing the words I was plumb. Whether or not the batsman is given out, the question How did that look to you? is invariably put to those two players on whose advice, at the highest level, the review is either invoked or forsaken: the non-striker and the keeper. And both involve great dollops of confirmation bias; that is, only seeing that which accords with the outcome we desire.Now I know this will stick in the craw, but other than in the case of travesties of judgement that occasionally manifest themselves, neither keeper nor non-striker really has a clue. The umpire really does have the best view in the house.First lets take the honest stumper. The only thing you can be sure of from behind the stumps following an lbw appeal is that the ball hit something. You can have a reasonable idea that it wasnt the bat from the noise, but this isnt infallible. When it comes to the line, keepers mostly take their stance outside the line of the off stump, only moving in line if the ball looks to be going down the leg side. Think about it. To be lbw, the ball has to hit your pads in line with the stumps and be going on to hit them (and not have pitched outside leg). As a stumper, you can only ever make an intelligent guess at either of these because - wait for it - when youre in line, you cant see exactly where the ball collided with the pads because theres one of them there batsmen in the way. So much for the keeper. And yes, they may know when its pitched way outside leg, but theyre hardly likely to let on. As for the non-striker, most of the time (and Joe Root at the Mohali Test was a conspicuous exception to this) they are to be found standing outside the return crease as the bowler delivers the ball. Thats about four feet to the right of middle stump. The ball is 20 yards away from them when it hits the pad. The non-striker is therefore at least four degrees off from the line of the ball. Those four degrees equate to approximately four inches: the non-strikers line of sight to the point of impact is at an angle of about four inches to the right of the strikers middle stump. Or, put another way, a ball appearing to strike the pad in front of middle stump is actually shaving the leg stump. If its gun-barrel straight. The non-striker must therefore adjust what they see to take account of their margin of error if theyre to have a hope. And thats before considering angle of delivery or movement, whether its seam, swing or spin, the probability that they werent really paying attention... Oh, it appears that the non-striker doesnt have a clue either.I managed to squeeze a few words from the excellent Fiona Richards, a Sussex Premier League panel umpire (I know shes excellent because shes never given me out lbw). This was what she had to say on the subject: The umpire can only make a decision based on the information at hand. While a DRS retrospective might find that not all decisions were accurate, you cant say that 100 umpires in the same position would not have made the same decision, and that is both the failing and beauty of a human game. Be supportive of your umpires, many of whom are unpaid volunteers. They have been thoroughly trained in how to apply the laws and usually have a lot of experience. Just as you, the players, are out there playing the best cricket you can, they are making the best decisions available.We owe it to the game to respect the umpires role, and their decisions, whether were batting, bowling, in the field or standing. Its not only what crickets about, it actually makes sense. Stephen Curry Jersey .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Alen Smailagic Warriors Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . https://www.warriorsrookiesshop.com/Mitch-Richmond-City-Edition-Jersey/ .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Latrell Sprewell Jersey . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Andre Iguodala Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. I know its common knowledge that all players are responsible for their sticks. We witnessed that when Zack Kassian hit Edmontons Sam Gagner in the face after a missed check. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- CJ McCollum matched his career high with 37 points, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 100-94 on Sunday.McCollum also matched his career best with six 3-pointers. Damian Lillard added 19 points and seven assists, and Maurice Harkless finished with 18 points. Portland has won two straight.Marc Gasol led Memphis with 21 points, and Mike Conley added 16 points and seven assists, They have lost two straight, both at home.Zach Randolph had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Vince Carter and Tony Allen scored 11 points each.The game was close with 13 lead changes and 12 ties before Portland pulled away late. McCollum had 10 straight Portland points during one stretch to put the game away.JAZZ 114, KNICKS 109NEW YORK -- Gordon Hayward scored 28 points in his season debut, George Hill had 23 points and nine assists, and Utah beat New York.Hayward had been sidelined since breaking his right ring finger in training camp. He led the team in scoring last season, averaging nearly 20 points.Rodney Hood added 18 points to help the Jazz win for the third time in four games. Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors each had 13.Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis each had 28 for the Knicks, and Derrick Rose added 18. New York has lost three of four.KINGS 96, RAPTORS 91TORONTO -- DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Rudy Gay scored 23 against his former team and Sacramento beat Toronto.Gay had nine points in the fourth quarter as the Kings (3-5) snapped a four-game losing streak by winning the finale of their five-game road trip.DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors (4-2) with 23 points, the first time this season hes been held under 30. Kyle Lowry added 15 points for Toronto, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas sat out wwith a sore knee.ddddddddddddAVERICKS 86, BUCKS 75, OTDALLAS -- Harrison Barnes scored a career-high 34 points and Dallas won for the first time this season, beating Milwaukee in overtime.Barnes, who left Golden State to sign a $94 million, four-year contract with the Mavericks in the offseason, has scored at least 30 points twice this season after hitting the mark only once in his four years with the Warriors.His 20-foot jumper opened the scoring in overtime, and the depleted Mavericks (1-5) never trailed after that. The Bucks scored just one point in the extra period.The Mavericks played without starters Dirk Nowitzki (right Achilles soreness) and Deron Williams (left calf strain).J.J. Barea added 21 points for Dallas, including five in overtime.Jabari Parker led Milwaukee with 16 points, but only two after halftime. Greg Monroe had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who had won three straight.NUGGETS 123, CELTICS 107BOSTON -- Emmanuel Mudiay scored 24 of his season-high 30 points in the opening quarter, helping Denver to a big first half against injury-depleted Boston.Wilson Chandler added 22 points before leaving with a left hamstring injury. Danilo Gallinari scored 16 for the Nuggets, who lost 16 of the previous 18 meetings in Boston.Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics, tying his season high with 30 points.Boston was missing starters Jae Crowder (sprained left ankle) and Al Horford (concussion protocol).Mudiay, who went 0 for 7 from the floor in Denvers double-digit loss at Detroit on Saturday night, shot 9 of 10 in the first quarter and had a season high already as he outscored the Celtics. The Nuggets led 42-23 after one and 77-52 at halftime.Boston left the floor to a loud chorus of boos. ' ' '