What goes through a square-leg umpire’s mind?

#3 Should I walk slowly if I’m hungry?

The square leg umpire finally has his fifteen second of fame while declaring it’s time for lunch/tea

One of the weirdest rules in the cricket book is when lunch or tea is called in Tests. When we are near the clock and the over is up, the umpire at the bowling crease waits for the square-leg umpire to walk up to the stumps at the other end ‘at normal speed’. If the clock strikes lunch or tea before he reaches the stumps, the bails are off and the fielders have to trudge off the field too.

In such a scenario, the square-leg umpire’s walk is probably the most-focussed-upon event on the field. For once, the spotlight is on him and he might end up feeling like a ballerina – who has to measure every step of his!