Named ‘Umpire of Year’ in cricket masters debut

As well as making his Shires debut, Pryde umpired in the NSW Over 70s state championships last season as well as in Bankstown, Fairfield-Liverpool and in the Sikh Games.
With the award presented to Pryde at the Sydney Shires Cricket Umpires Association’s AGM at Bankstown Sports last week, he said he was surprised at the win, given the stiff competition.
“Umpiring is a challenging role with communication, focus and concentration the key,” he said.
“These players are at a certain level and they’re trying hard to win so if you make a bad decision, you’re going to hear about it.
“The aim is to be there when needed but it’s vital to let the players play their game.”
Involved in cricket for most of his life, Pryde, 58, tried his hand at umpiring when his youngest son finished in junior cricket about four years ago.
“Cricket is expanding generally but especially in the masters, classics and vintage categories which is fantastic to see and I’m grateful for the recognition,” he added.
After umpiring teams in the T20 competition in the Bangladeshi Games with finals on this weekend, Pryde is looking forward to the start of the Sydney Shires Cricket’s next season which gets underway at the end of October.
Stephen Blomfield, Honorary Secretary of the Sydney Shires Cricket Umpires Association, said: “Ian had an excellent season and was potentially in line for an appointment to one of the six Shires Grand Finals until the season was abruptly ended by Covid-19.
“No doubt Ian will be in contention next season.”