Cricket Column: Head-butting opponents, urinating on the sidelines and swearing at umpires are just a few of the things that some of Leinster's errant cricketers have been getting up to this summer in what has been the most active season for the LCU's disciplinary committee for many a year.

In total, the committee considered nine cases this summer, which may not sound like many but when you think that there were none last year and just one the year before, it is a significant increase.

By far the most serious case involved a player from North Kildare CC, who the LCU has banned for one year following a head-butting incident before a game against a team from North County. It is thought the row was a carry-over from a previous game between the two teams where players from both sides were involved in a heated discussion. As well as suspending the player for one year, the union decided to throw both clubs out of the Junior Cup for this year.

In another case, a senior player from Pembroke CC was reprimanded for urinating on the sidelines at Anglesea Road during a game against Merrion.

No ban was handed down but the case brought back memories of the Merrion player who ended up getting an eight-match ban a couple of seasons ago for urinating during a game against Phoenix in the Park, albeit in slightly different circumstances.

Most of the disciplinary hearings were the result of umpires' reports and most involved abuse of those men in white coats or general swearing.

Four senior players received bans for abusing umpires and a player from Phoenix CC was suspended for five weekends after repeatedly questioning an umpire's eyesight during the Senior Two Cup final. Apart from his ban, the club was deducted points in the league as the disciplinary committee felt the club should have taken their own action to deal with the player.

Instead he was back playing for the same team the week after the incident but before the LCU's ban had been handed down.

Of course, just because the LCU is hearing more discipline-related cases does not necessarily mean that overall conduct of players is declining.

In fact, from talking to umpires at various levels in Leinster cricket, most of them, it seems, do not believe that the problem is getting worse.

"If anything, discipline is better than last year," said Alan Tuffery of the Leinster Cricket Umpires' Association. "I think we are reporting players more than we used to and that is because the entire system has improved greatly. The LCU is convening disciplinary meetings quickly and handing out very clear and consistent sentences. The procedure they follow is almost forensic. I attended a couple of meetings of the committee this year and I was unbelievably impressed.

"I personally don't think there is a problem with discipline in Leinster at the moment. The umpires have more confidence in the system than ever before and that is perhaps why more reports are being sent in than before," he said.

It seems that on this issue, the LCU is getting it right. Clubs need to know their players will receive a fair and consistent hearing if called before the disciplinary committee and umpires need to feel they are getting the full support of the union in order to carry out their duties to the best of their ability.

At the moment, at least, it seems that both those things are being achieved.