HE called hub life 'six weeks of Alcatraz' and he had to deal with a steamy grand final night, but Bathurst umpire Tony Wilds still got enjoyment out of being involved in the Women's Big Bash League.
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As a member of the national umpires panel Wilds was initially set to head to Adelaide to stand in Sheffield Shield matches, but just as the players had to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, so too did the Bathurst official.
He was called in to umpire and help mentor other officials for the Women's Big Bash League. It meant he also joined the players in a 'hub' for six weeks.
"I had six weeks of Alcatraz I call it ... I couldn't go anywhere," Wilds said.
"The experience is not one I'm willing to repeat in a hurry. No look, it was alright, you have to do what you have to do to get cricket on."
Wilds was involved 17 games across the course of the tournament, including being an on field umpire for Sydney Thunder's remarkable semi-final win over Brisbane Heat and standing in the middle when Sydney Sixers' star Alyssa Healy belted a century off just 48 balls at North Sydney Oval.
"That was a brilliant innings, she hit the ball very clean, but just the standard of the whole thing keeps getting better and better," Wilds said.
Wilds also spent time as the third umpire in a number of games including the semi-final between the Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers and the decider in which the Thunder sensationally upset the Stars.
He said Thunder's mix of players with international experience and young guns 'worked a treat', although he'd have liked to see Orange batter Phoebe Litchfield promoted up the order.
"Teams have got their three overseas players and certainly the Thunder, who won it, had a very good mix. They had some good juniors like Phoebe from Orange," he said.
"She's probably a little bit unfortunate she's down the order as far as she is, but when you've got Heather Knight and Rachael Haynes and those sort of people it's hard. She deserves to be in the top four, but she's going to have to bide her time a bit."
While he enjoyed the action which unfolded in the decider, his job was a little testing given the heat.
"The worst thing about it was the heat, there was literally sweat running off us in the office it was that hot, there was no air con, trying to keep the paper work dry was a bit of a challenge," he laughed.
"You work with a director, so it's actually the busiest spot to be, you basically score. So you keep a tally of where everything is up to and advise the on-field umpires, you give them updates on over rates to keep the captains out of trouble for being too slow and you work with the director on referrals.
"The director, especially if it's on free to air, they are running their show, they're running the game. They tell you at the start of each over, 'We're still in the ad break, you've got to hold' and we radio down ' Hold, hold, hold'. It's a busy little job."
Wilds' next assignment will be in the men's Big Bash League.
