Challenge Cup final umpire Phil Thompson in familiar territory

There will undoubtedly be a sense of déjà vu for Thompson considering his first outing in the showpiece event in 2015 was contested between the two same teams, with Rassie van der Dussen inspiring CIYMS to a 50-run triumph.

For many club cricketers in the NCU, playing in the Challenge Cup final is the pinnacle of their careers and is a stage they aspire to reach, and as Thompson explains, it is a similar situation for the officials.

“From an official’s view it is fantastic and there is a great buzz. It is years of hard work to get to the stage where you get appointed and it’s a fantastic day all round,” he said.

“At the end of the day, you don’t want anybody after the game talking about us. From our perspective, it’s just as exciting for us as the players.

“You enjoy it, hope it goes well, hope there’s nothing controversial and you can have a beer after the game and reflect on what is a great occasion.”

Thompson will be standing alongside Alan Neill, who was one of four umpires to be handed a full-time contract by Cricket Ireland in April.

He has proven himself to be one of the premier officials in the country and Thompson is looking forward to sharing the field with Neill.

“I would consider Alan a very good friend of mine,” he added.

“He doesn’t live that far away, I’ve umpired with him on many occasions and he is very experience, so I’m really looking forward to that.

“We have just been making arrangements to go for breakfast on the morning, get to the ground an hour-and-a-half before the game and make sure all the preparations are all done, so I’m looking forward to the occasion.”

This year marks Thompson’s 10th as a full-time umpire after hanging up his boots in 2009 following his time as a player with Cregagh, and he is also now chairman of both NIACUS and IACUS - two associations for umpires and officials in the NCU and Ireland.

Those positions means he plays a big role in the training of umpires and Thompson helps run courses in the NCU and says they work extremely hard in the close season.

“We do the training courses every year and every other year we seem to attract half a dozen umpires to the scene and try to get 80-90 appointments between them throughout the season depending on their commitments,” he said.

“It’s always very difficult and you can never have enough umpires. From a NIACUS point of view, we work hard off-field during the winter and work with umpires in terms of laws, regulations, scenarios and try to ensure that we put a good product out on the field for the NCU on a Saturday.

“That continues to be the aim and goal. Could we do with more umpires? Everybody could.

“With the Irish set-up and new panels, we just need to make sure we are bringing through our umpires through training and that they are ready to make that step up because the demand for officials throughout Ireland is growing all the time.”