The scoreboard has stopped ticking for now owing to the COVID-19 pandemic but to ensure that the city's scorers, heavily reliant on local matches for their livelihoods, are not hit by hardship, a group of former umpires has decided to lend a helping hand.
The group, led by former Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) managing committee member and ex-BCCI umpire Ganesh Iyer, has set up a fund to ensure that local match officials and scorers are provided some assistance at a time when not just cricket but all sport has come to a grinding halt.
Maharashtra is among the worst-affected in the country with more than 300 COVID-19 positive cases.
"We, umpires have formed a group 'Lending a Hand' to help umpires and scorers whose livelihood depends on cricket," Iyer told PTI on Thursday.
MCA tournament coordinator Abhay Hadap said a scorer gets Rs 1,500 per match per day and an umpire is paid Rs 2,000 per day per match.
And Iyer said income has dried up for them as of now.
"We appealed to the members to contribute voluntarily. We have also identified those scorers and umpires, whose livelihood is dependent on local matches.
"Till now we have been successful in raising Rs 2.5 lakh and the process of raising funds will continue. A few of the current Apex Council members of the Mumbai Cricket Association have also chipped in generously."