Ideally, you would want every umpire in the league to be scrupulously fair. However that doesn't happen, so you just have to hope they're at least consistent, and give out the obvious nicks and the plumb lbws. Making up imaginary no-balls is just plain weird.

See, I may be a little naivé, but I go by the way that I'm always fair, and hope that If I am fair It will spread. It has served me well before, such as in football, sometimes I'll make a fingertip save (keeper) and it will go out for a corner, only to be given as a goal kick, will always tell the ref... and you gain respect from the other players and the referee.
If I think it was LBW , it was LBW.... I famously gave out a player from our first team (filling in the 2nds) out LBW because he made no attempt at a shot when it hit him outside off stump...

Personally I really enjoy the challenge. I like the banter with the opposition players and I always aim to be fair and consistent. It does pay off sometimes. If I give an LBW on the front foot (tantamount to murder in the eyes of some of my team) because it was out, then the opposition players seem to be a little warmer to the idea when they are umpiring. Sometimes. Occasionally. OK once a season maybe.

There has been murmurings of making teams providing umpires for other games taking place locally. The idea is that team A would send off two players to go and umpire in a game between team B & C. Team B would send players off to a game involving team D, team C to the game involving team A and so on (or in whatever combination).

The idea behind it is to stop the batting side having to umpire and the arguments/rows that occasionally crop up. I think it's more of an idle threat than anything that will happen but it does put a new spin on things. Seriously - would you be willing to give up one/two games per year to go off and umpire elsewhere for little more than petrol money?

The social side is very important, especially if you see the same guys year after year. If you cheat you quickly get a reputation that's hard to break.

Great answer Bryan. It's important to stick to your guns and have a bit of banter, even if it's with your own team mates. I've been in situations where it's not quite as good fun where certain opposition players have got very upset and I've had to say "Look, someone has to make the decision, I've made mine now get on with the game".

I bet the batsman was still gutted.

I like to umpire quite fairly (e.g. try not to favour my own side), and as a leg spinner who almost never gets decisions, I have a tendancy to umpire as if I was the bowler. I'll always play cautious on LBW decisions, because they are so contentious, but I will give them if I think its out. And I'm usually quite lenient on wides, purely because it annoys me how harsh some umpires are for my own bowling. If I think an edge is involved I'll always give it, but you always know which of your team mates are walkers or not. So if I know they are honest and would walk, I'll simply leave it in their hands. Players that I know don't walk then I have to make a decision.

The biggest problem with LBW's is that genuine batsmen, especially the older generation, believe that they should never be out LBW. I've had my own players that wouldn't talk to me after the game because I gave them out. Its wrong that you should ever feel the need to apologise for an umpiring decision, players should simply accept it. That isn't to say that I don't argue myself though haha. But only if I feel genuinely aggrieved. e.g. if I got an edge on an LBW, or got given out caught on something I didn't touch. Players that get forward and then complain about being given out LBW because they got a stride in do my head in. On club turf wickets at 50mph from your average "pace" bowler, the ball hardly ever gets high enough to clear the stumps on a driving length lol. So the argument of height becomes rather irrelevant. If it hits below the knee roll then its probably out. Some batsmen just don't get it though.

I give everything as I see it, in the hope that other players will do the same for my own bowling. It rarely works, but you've got to stick to your principles. And most of the time its good fun umpiring, I love the banter.

I've had one where an elder statesman in the club has been out plumb a number of times, including first ball, and I've kept saying "going down the leg side" and eventually I've given him out, and he STILL complains afterwards.

I tend to modify my wides judgement based on the pace of the bowler. For one thing a slow wide delivery is easy to get across to, whereas a fast ball even just a foot down leg is unplayable. And secondly I reason that if they're that quick they've obviously played and bit so they've got no excuse.

I've been on the other end of it before many a time though. Young lad in our club gave me out lbw when the ball pitched a foot outside leg. You know its a howler when the opposition captain comes over and apologises as you're trudging off in disgust!

We have a team rule in the side I captain. When umpiring ourselves I demand that batsmen walk if they nick it. That way, in theory, only lbws can be contentious and in my experience they are rarely THAT contentious due to everyone understanding that we are endeavouring to be as fair as possible. Having said that we do have one player who simply refuses to walk for anything. But since we all understand the team rule no-one has any qualms putting the finger up when he gets an edge.

I've just finished a game where the opposition where the most badly behaved side I have come across. They were absolute co#%heads. Just thought I'd share my disgust, makes a mockery of the game. There were 5-6 occasions when a brawl was almost on.

Well it was a much anticipated top of the table clash, the other mob were about 30 points clear of us in second place. Now these blokes come from a club which has a reputation for being absolute dingbats, across all grades. They were thinking they are so far in front they will give us a hiding, they had 3 of the top run scorrers in the competition in their side and we rolled them for 101. We came ready to play, they didn't and we had them in all sorts to the extent they were having a go at their own player who was umpiring for giving out two plumb lbw decisions.

They didn't make breakthroughs early on as they needed, they are very frustrated by now and were blowing up at every lbw shout that was turned down, arguing over wides that almost pitched off the wicket, trying to intimated the umpires and players both verbally and physically, really dumb shit. The fact that you are getting hammered by the opposition is no excuse to carry on like idiots and was just appalling. And the worst thing is, most of this was instigated by their captain. It made the team song that much sweeter, I can tell you.

I am sure most club players will have been through something similar, yesterday whilst umpiring in a club game I caused fury with the oppo. The bowler, who was bowling off spin was coming in very close to the wickets and as he delivered his back leg was flicking up, and on the ball in question his boot just caught the stump dislonging both bails, the ball was driven back very hard by the batsman, hit the bolwer's boot and then ricocheted into the stumps, with the non striking batsman well out of his ground, there was a loud appeal and the non stiking batsmen walked without waiting. I then called him back as when the ball struck, the bails were already off. Having re -read the laws, I think I was right, but the oppo were pretty cheesed off, as I don't think any of them saw the bails had been dislodged (to be fair the oppo skipper later apoligised for his outburst), hey ho - PS I always give it as I see it, but am very conservative on giving LBW's, as having watched the DRS in action for me it's got to be 100% sure