Germany calling

Here's a fact of the day: the German word for umpire is schiedsrichter, which loosely and inelegantly translates as "judge of arbitrations". I learnt this from the ever enjoyable Beyond the Test World column on Cricinfo, which links to a story from the Gulf News about Paul Baldwin, an English-born but German naturalised umpire (he's not even been back to the UK for 17 years), who has been appointed to stand in the under-19 World Cup, which starts in Malaysia in a little over a week.

Cricket is growing in popularity in Germany and it is good to see an umpire from an associate nation be given the honour of standing at a fairly prestigious tournament. I presume there is no rule that specifies that an intenational umpire has to be from a Test nation, although obviously they would have to be based in one so that they get enough first-class experience. Germans would make ideal umpires (and yes, I am about to pander to stereotype in the search of a cheap joke) with their lack of humour, high work ethic and impressively efficient ability to follow rules to the letter. In fact, are we sure Simon Taufel isn't German?

To encourage Baldwin, then, here are five other famous Germans:

Shane Warne: Nothing has been heard since last summer about Herr Transplant's plans to take up his mother's German nationality, although given how little Warne plans to be with Hampshire this year perhaps it would help them if he could so they can sign another overseas player. Just don't mention the Waugh.

Ollie Rayner: Sussex's 22-year-old 6ft 5in off spinner was born in Fallingbostel and is regarded as one to watch. Most famous so far for being the first Sussex player since 1920 to score a hundred on debut.

Bill Frindall: With that beard, how could the Test Match Special scorer refuse an offer to become patron of the German Cricket Board in 2006?

Paul Terry: The Hampshire batsman was born in Osnabruck and had an astounding sequence of high scores in 1984 before by being called up by England, at which point Winston Davis broke his arm and ended his Test career.

Donald Carr: The future England (one-cap) captain was born in Wiesbaden but as his countrymen were in retreat across Europe he made his first-class debut in 1945 for an England XI at Lord's against the Australian servicemen. He was some schoolboy cricketer, picked alongside the likes of Hutton, Washbrook, Hammond and Edrich. Never quite lived up that first match.

Famously, Germany lost the final of the European Nations Cup in 1997 to France by one run, when the French last man, David Bordes, staggered home for a crucial leg-bye with a fractured skull. It was named as one of Wisden's 100 best games of the century.

Comments

[Ann]

Sigh ... the Germans are not 'efficient' - they are thorough. Two quite distinct and different characteristics. Indeed, being excessively thorough prevents you from being efficient, as you become bogged down in minutiae and lose sight of the big picture. Don't believe me? Look at the German economy.
Being born in Osnabruck doesn't make you German.

[Peter McGuinness]

Germany may have contributed to the nerveless performances of one of the 'coolest' cricketers to have lived.

Keith Miller was a decorated Spitfire pilot in WW2 and flew in the Battle of Britain. When he was asked about how he coped with pressure out in the middle, he replied:

"Pressure is having a Messerschmidt up your arse."

Hard to deny.

[Andrew Nixon]

Just a quick comment on Warne's German nationality. The reason little has been heard of it is because Warne isn't actually eligible for German citizenship as for anyone born before 1975 German nationality can only be passed down from their father.

It seems that no-one, including Warne, actually bothered to check German nationality law. I found it out in five minutes and wrote on article on CricketEurope about it, without wanting to sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet or anything.