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ASSOCIATIONOF CRICKET OFFICIALS

M A G A Z I N E • I S S U E 3 4 • S P R I N G 2 0 1 9

2019: Cricket’s Biggest Year

Scoring Unboxed: looking to the future of scoring


The biggest prize in men’s cricket returns home: 1975 remembered

Umpire Nutrition and Hydration: optimising your performance

JOIN – ECB ASSOCIATION OF CRICKET OFFICIALS 0121 446 2710 [email protected] – ECB ASSOCIATION OF CRICKET OFFICIALS 0121 446 2710 [email protected] 3

ECB ACO Management CommitteeLes Clemenson – Interim Chairman & South West and Wales RegionVacant – Deputy ChairmanDavid Bird – West MidlandsRaj Patel – South Central Peter Hinstridge – East RegionPeter McKenzie – East Midlands RegionSid Poole – London Philip Radcliffe – NorthEsther de Lange – ICC EuropeMartin Gentle – Interim Head of ECB ACOBruce Cruse – Head of ParticipationChris Kelly – Umpires’ ManagerJonny Singer – MCC Laws of Cricket AdvisorHeather Vernon – National Scorer’s Officer

ECB ACO ExecutiveMartin Gentle – Interim Head of ECB ACO & Membership Services ManagerGlyn Pearson – Education ManagerHamish Grant – Finance, Administration and Projects OfficerBen Francis – Customer Marketing Manager (ACO)Karen Cassidy – Membership Services OfficerAngela Durndell – Customer Services Advisor

Phone - 0121 446 2710Email – [email protected]

ACO Management SubcommitteesEducationScorersPerformance and DevelopmentAppointments and Grading

AddressesECB Membership Services OfficeWarwickshire CC Ground,Edgbaston,Birmingham, B5 7QXECB ACOLord’s Cricket GroundLondon, NW8 8QZ

The Cricket Umpires andScorers Trust (Available toECB ACO members)Enquiries/requests should beaddressed to:The ChairmanThe Cricket Umpires and Scorers Trustc/o JF Rushton AccountantThe Satum CentreSpring RoadEttingshallWolverhampton, WV4 6JXOr, email [email protected] trustees cannot guarantee tomeet every request, but each will begiven due consideration.

Magazine EditorHamish [email protected]

TEAM SHEET

I hope you all wintered well and are looking forward to the new season with great anticipation.

To me the Spring edition of the ACO magazine is a statement that the dark cold days of winter are over, and we are now ready for the new season. Scorers will have downloaded the latest software for their computers and loaded the fixtures. Umpires will have checked that their jacket still fits or is it time for a new one? They will have received their early season appointments, checked any new regulations and if you’re like me you’ll be looking forward to some fixtures more than others. Yes - we’re all ready to go.

This edition looks back briefly at 2018 but mostly looks forward to the new season which is going to be huge for cricket. The Men’s Cricket World Cup and an Ashes Series for both men and women make it potentially one of the most exciting summers for many years.

For the ACO and officiating in general 2019 is also an important, and potentially game-changing, year; as we work with colleagues within ECB to create a strategy for Officiating for 2020-24. We need more umpires and scorers and we cannot rely on just former players anymore. We have to be more innovative in our approach; we have to change the perception of who can umpire and score; and we have to change the attitude of the game that takes officials for granted. This is undoubtedly going to be a challenge, but the game appears to be listening, and we must make the most of this opportunity!

The ECB has recently launched the whole-game strategy for the 5 years to 2024 called “Inspiring Generations”. We sent you an electronic copy of the document in March and I hope you found it both informative and interesting. The Officiating strategy will align with “Inspiring Generations” as we seek to inspire more people to officiate our wonderful game.

As you know the ECB ACO Executive is a small team of just five people – there’s a picture of us on page 4 – and we rely on what we call our core volunteer workforce to implement out training, appointments and development throughout the country. Every year we hold four regional workshops to meet up with our volunteers. These workshops are invaluable for not only the Executive team to put “faces to names” but also for the County officers to meet up with the other County officers in their region. This year we started in Salisbury and via Wakefield and Duxford we reached Leicester in mid-February. I would like to thank everyone who gave up their Sundays to attend and to contribute to what were four excellent events.

One of the topics discussed at the Regional Workshops was the new Umpire Development Programme we are introducing from this season. You will find more information about the new programme on page 18 in this edition, but we do hope this new programme will encourage more umpires to want to develop their skills and knowledge.

Our team of County and Regional Scorer Officers has been extremely busy too! Last year there was a series of roadshows to support the launch of Play-Cricket Scorer Pro and this year they are running another series of workshops to further spread the word about how good this product is and to show the many new developments since last season. Read more about these developments in this edition of the magazine. Scoring will feature prominently in the Officiating Strategy as it provides so much data that is of benefit and interest to players, coaches and fans.

We take for granted the great range of products that are available from the ECB ACO shop which is operated on our behalf by Duncan Fearnley Ltd. The range has increased significantly over the years and so have our sales – 2018 was the highest sales year to date. With the magazine you will find a copy of the latest catalogue and I do encourage you take a look at what’s on offer for both umpires and scorers – you may be surprised!

Our training courses have again been well supported this winter and we have trained well over 1,000 new umpires and scorers. ACO membership is included for those participants and I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new members who have joined following attendance at a training course and I do hope that you enjoy your role as either scorer, umpire or maybe both! I also hope you are an ACO member for many years to come.

Over the winter I have had the opportunity to meet many of you at ACO meetings up and down the country as well as maybe speaking to you on the phone when renewing your membership. It reminds me that we are and remain an organisation that serves its members and I would like to thank you for the support you have given me and the rest of the executive team since I became the Interim Head of ECB ACO.

Hopefully I will get to meet more of you over the coming months but in the meantime have a great summer and above all enjoy yourselves.

“Spring edition of the ACO magazine is a statement that the dark cold days of winter are over...”

Martin Gentle, Interim Head of ACO


Thank you to all members who have renewed their membership for 2019.

If you haven’t done so yet, it is not too late! You will have received a renewal notice with this magazine.

We can renew all categories of membership by debit/credit card over the phone (0121 446 2710). Alternatively you can send a cheque for the appropriate amount to the Membership Office at Edgbaston – the address is inside the front cover.

The requirements and amount per membership type are listed below:-

TEAM ONTHE ROADThe Executive team has had a busy few months in and out the office, pictured here at the end of the Regional Workshops at Grace Road (L to R Glyn Pearson, Angela Durndell, Martin Gentle, Hamish Grant & Karen Cassidy).

2019 MEMBERSHIP

Full MembershipYou must have a current DBS (was CRB) certificate.Insurance provided.The cost of membership is £32.

ICC Europe Membership (including Ireland and Scotland)You do not need a current DBS.Insurance provided.The cost of membership is £32.

Young Officials between 16 & 25You must have a current DBS (was CRB) certificate.Insurance provided.The cost of membership is £17.

Associate MembershipYou do not need a current DBS.NO insurance.The cost of membership is £17.

NO DBS? PLEASE CONTACT [email protected] you do not renew your membership you will not receive any more copies of the ACO magazine and don’t forget if you are an active Umpire or Scorer you will NOT be insured.

ICC Europe Associate Membership (including Ireland and Scotland)

You do not need a current DBS.NO insurance.

The cost of membership is £17.

Young Officials under 16You do not need to have a current DBS.

Insurance provided.The cost of membership is £17.

Overseas Members (outside EU)You do not need a current DBS.

NO insurance The cost of membership is £17.

ECB First Class Umpires 2019Rob BaileyNeil BaintonPaul BaldwinIan BlackwellMike BurnsNick CookBen DebenhamJeff EvansMichael GoughIan Gould Peter Hartley Richard IllingworthRichard KettleboroughNigel LlongGraham Lloyd Jeremy Lloyds Neil Mallender David MillnsSteve O’ShaughnessyPaul PollardTim RobinsonMartin SaggersBilly TaylorRussell WarrenAlex Wharf Hassan AdnanTom Lungley

James MiddlebrookMark NewellNeil PrattChris WattsRob WhiteIan Ramage

National Panel 2019Raymond AllenNaeem AshrafJeremy BeckwithSteve BeswickTim CaldicottGeoff CallawayStephen CobbKeith CoburnJonathan CousinsNigel CowleyDean DanielsAlistair DaviesHuw DaviesNeil DaviesMartyn DobbsChristopher DunnRobert EagletonRichard EllisPaul EvansJohn Farrell

Ken FergussonMatthew FrenchRoger GarlandDavid GowerNick HallBob HampshireAnthony HarrisIan HerbertAndy HicksSam HollingsheadChristopher JohnsonMatthew JohnsonBrian JonesIan LaurenceSteve LavisKeith LittleAndrew LunnGary MarshallJeff MarshallRay MedlandBrian MorrisPhil MustardJigar NaikPaul NichollsRobin ParkerAlan PayneDan PedleyBen Peverall

Nigel PiddockJason PitcherMartyn PointerDean PricePhil PrinceMansoor QureshiSue RedfernIan RichPaul RichardsonScott RichardsonGlenn RobertsSteve RossAlisdair ShaikhSurendiran ShanmugamJack ShantryPaul SmithPaul SparshottMartin SpenceleyRoger TolchardJohn TomsettJames TredwellCasper ViljoenDuncan WarburtonIan WarneMatti WattonJohn WheelerSimon Widdup

Team First XI Second XI

Derbyshire John Brown Jane Hough/John Wallis

Durham William Dobson Peter Connolly/Grahame Maddison

Essex Tony Choat Paul Parkinson

Glamorgan Andrew Hignell Byron Jones/ Ben Davies/ Kevin Probert

Gloucestershire Adrian Bull Keith Gerrish

Hampshire Kevin Baker Peter Danks/Alan Mills

Kent Lorne Hart Andy Bateup

Lancashire Chris Rimmer Garry Morgan

Leicestershire Paul Rogers Peter Johnson

Middlesex Don Shelley Neil Smith

Northamptonshire Tony Kingston Terry Owen/Quentin Jones

Nottinghamshire Roger Marshall Anne Cusworth

Somerset Polly Rhodes Colin Crees

Surrey Phil Makepeace Debbie Beesley

Sussex Mike Charman Graham Irwin

Warwickshire Mel Smith Russ Dickinson

Worcestershire Sue Drinkwater Phil Mellish

Yorkshire John Potter John Virr

2019 FIRST CLASS COUNTY SCORERS


BIGGESTSUMMERC

RIC

KET

’S

2019 is set to be the biggest year even for cricket in England and Wales, with the Men’s World Cup starting 30th May and then a home Ashes Series for both the men and women’s teams; the

Physical Disability team are also hosting the PD IT20 World Series. We’d love to hear your experiences from this jam-packed summer, so please send in any stories and photos to [email protected]

The 100 days to go until the start of the Men’s Cricket World Cup saw Nelson’s Column become middle stump.

Both the men’s and women’s teams are fighting to regain the Ashes

against their Australian rivals.

Last minute drama and the umpire is left hatless A packed Lord’s was the setting for the first CWC final on a baking June afternoon, with the West Indies facing Australia, having defeated New Zealand and England in their respective semi-finals. With the Caribbean side batting first and posting 291 for 8 from their 60 overs, they took regular Australian wickets to reduce their opponents chase to 233 for 9. A last stand from fast bowling duo Dennis Lilley and Jeff Thomson left the Aussies requiring 26 from the last two overs.

Vanburn Holder (who later too became an English First-Class Umpire) steamed in and Thomson flicked the ball down to long-leg, returning for an attempted second run just as Keith Boyce’s throw was buzzed in and wicket keeper Deryck Murray taking apart the stumps. Cue carnage.

The crowd invaded the pitch thinking that was that, only to notice a certain Yorkshireman at the striker’s end who had stayed unmoved, with his finger firmly remaining down. A somewhat confused delay resulted while the crowd retreated back behind the boundary (spectators sitting on the grass at Lord’s was not banned for nearly a decade after). The next ball was chipped by Thomson to Fredericks in the covers (the only man up in the “fielding circle on the offside”, slightly different fielding regulations now!), and the crowd returned even stronger; unfortunately, they had missed the call of no ball by Tom Spencer at the bowler’s end. The West Indian fielder reacted quickly, shying at the bowler’s end with the ball then immersed by the crowd; the batsmen kept running.

Somehow in the chaos Dickie Bird lost his hat. When it had all calmed down again a rather comical exchange ensued between batsmen and umpires.

Thomson: “How many are you giving us for the that?”

Spencer: “Two” (they had in fact completed three runs before stopping as Thomson was fearful the ball might have been pocketed and be used to run them out unsuspectingly)

Thomson: “Pig’s arse… we’ve been running up and down here all afternoon.”

Meanwhile Bird asked Lillee how many he had run, to which the Aussie fast bowler replied, “You should be counting, but I make it about 17”. They were given 4 in the end.

Three balls later the game was completed for good, with Thomson missing the ball after charging down and Murray’s throw beating him back.

A year later Dickie was on a London bus when he saw a man wearing a familiar looking hat. He asked the gentleman where he got it from, to which he replied, ““Haven’t you heard of Mr Dickie Bird? It’s his hat. I ran on the pitch and got it and I am so proud of it.”

CRICKET’S COMING HOME20years later and the Men’s Cricket World Cup is coming home, in so much that England

and Wales are hosting the pinnacle event. This year’s event will be the 5th time that the biggest prize in the men’s ODI format takes place in this country. We look back to the inaugural Cricket World Cup final, which took place on 21st June 1975, with our own Dickie Bird and Tom Spencer standing in the middle.

“David Shepherd umpired 3 consecutive World Cup finals, pictured here in his

last in 2003”

“The scorecard from the Australian innings from the Irving Rosenwater collection (MCC Archives)”

English Umpires no strangers to centre stageIn the eleven previous tournaments, 5 English umpires have stood in the final:

1975 – Dickie Bird and Tom Spencer1979 – Barrie Meyer and Dickie Bird1983 – Barrie Meyer and Dickie Bird1996 – David Shepherd1999 – David Shepherd2003 – David Shepherd2015 – Richard Kettleborough

N.B. Ian Gould was TV umpire in the 2011 final and reserve umpire for the 2015 final

“Dickie Bird standing in the inaugural

Cricket World Cup final, Lord’s 1975”


NUTRITION & HYDRATION

“Not even English! The traditional English cricket tea – an integral part of the game. Allegedly the first record of tea being taken was on the 1890-91 tour of Australia!”

Gough’s Top TipsICC International Panel Umpire Michael Gough talks us through his top tips for a day’s play:

Eat breakfast: Preferably something with carbohydrates as the body needs fuel for the day ahead. Foods I would normally eat are porridge, toast, bananas, fruit.

Lunch: Generally something with carbohydrates, salad, vegetables and chicken/ fish. Then fruit/ yoghurt.

Tea: Banana or sandwich (with salad and protein).

I tend to stay away from caffeine through the day as I find this can dehydrate me. I try and drink lots of water together with some rehydration tablets/ sachets before play, during lunch and at tea interval.

End of the day: A meal with carbohydrates and protein together with plenty of water based fluid to prepare me for the next day.

It goes without saying that sleep can be a huge determining factor in performance levels. Renowned Neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker recently described it as “the best performance enhancer for sports teams and athletes”. You will know within yourself the sleep you need before a game that allows you to maintain concentration levels, don’t underestimate it!

We know from long distance athletes (e.g. marathon runners) that hydration starts well in advance of the event, not just a quick coffee at a service station on route to the ground. Given cricket’s structured drinks breaks, managing hydration levels (with going popping off to the WC) is vital so you may want to think about starting this the day before to prepare your body – being equally aware of the effects of alcohol and caffeine on your performance! Equally considering the temperatures that were reached in the height of last summer.

In this issue we’re turning the attention to nutrition and hydration and the 48 hours before, during and after game-day. Often during a packed summer games come thick and fast, Saturday and Sunday or Festival weeks. You will know within yourself as to what works for you, and that is without a doubt the most important factor; the following information is solely to allow you to make decisions based on learnings from the professional environment to enable you to perform at your optimum.

For a football or rugby referee with a game traditionally starting at 14:00 that lasts around two hours there won’t be any major challenges to try and change the eating or drinking habits. The nature of cricket, however, brings its own challenges and the typical matchday experience on a weekend requiring you to possibly consider how and when you eat to enable you to perform at your best. For example, if you find yourself doing a Saturday league match that starts at 12:00, this might mean you leaving the house before 10:00 to arrive in plenty of time. You will then most likely be on the field from midday until 15:00 (depending on the weather!), coming off for around half an hour before going back out for another session until the early evening. Despite the odd drinks break, sometimes depending on how generous the batting team is feeling, and the legendary but variable “cricket tea” the importance of finding a way to maintain your fluids and blood sugar levels that works for you is vital.

You do not need a nutritionist or scientist to tell you the effects of not managing yourself throughout these 48 hours can have on your concentration, focus and ultimately decision-making. I am sure everyone has had moments getting towards the end of the innings or before a drink’s break where you can feel yourself struggling to concentrate as easily. It must be reiterated that you will know your own body and what works or does not work for you, most of this is common sense so this is just meant to give you some ideas as to things you might consider trying to enhance your game experience (and longevity throughout the season!) Post-game (lead to

multi-day/multiple days)The recovery after a game might often be a drink in the clubhouse and a BBQ or just driving straight home. In the same way as your body needs the right food and drink to prepare it for a match, so too might it be beneficial to get some fuel on after the game to help it recover and replenish energy and fluid levels.

You might find yourself umpiring the next day (whether a multi-day match, or part of a festival) so the need to be able to recover and start the whole process again is essential to sustaining your performance levels. Umpires in the professional game stand on average in 90 days cricket over the season, putting significant demands on the body to be able to continually perform at the top level.

A big challenge for anyone involved in sports (professional/recreational and players/officials) regarding nutrition and hydration is the ever-increasing number of evening matches.

“Time” sometimes the call for tea can’t come soon enough!”

The “Cricket Tea”The cricket tea has become as much a part of cricket as batting and bowling, some leagues even stipulate the minimum number of different types of sandwiches! Within the professional game they have learned that eating exactly what is on offer to the players is not always the best thing for umpires, given the different demands on the body. Given the length of a game (and the umpire is there for all of it!) and the way umpires move, the professional game has seen much more of a focus on eating high protein and lower carbohydrate food. The advantage of this is to avoid the spikes that can come from eating high carb food (and quick release sugars – e.g. chocolate/energy drinks) pre or during the match. The First-Class umpires now use things such as bounce balls, which have higher protein balance and ensure that the energy is released more evenly throughout the day to be able to maintain concentration and focus throughout the game (particularly when the second innings starts to get close!)

Pre-gameAs alluded to earlier, the timings of a typical league game put quite a challenge to get on board the food and drink you might need pre-game to be able to last (sometimes up to 120 overs!). For some people a good hearty breakfast of porridge (or even a fry up) might set them up for the day and last until tea, being based around slow release energy such as oats. Whereas it might be that that will sit too heavy on the stomach for others, who would rather have a lighter breakfast and perhaps a snack before going out onto the field. Whilst being aware of the different benefits some foods and drinks can have on your performance, work out what works best for you and share your experiences with colleagues.

As part of the Health and Fitness series, we’ve looked at how far umpires move during different types of match and ways to stretch and strengthen the body to best prepare yourself for the demands of the modern game.

Night before

“Asad Rauf catching 40 winks during a drinks break, Australia v West Indies 2009”

Have you got a trick or habit that you find really works for

you, we’d love to hear from [email protected]

?

Don’t forget the scorers also need to eat and drink, particularly if they are often in an isolated scorebox! Make sure the teams provide them with the necessary sustenance to be able to concentrate (they are probably less likely to leave you hanging on a leg bye signal…). At some grounds there is not even time for them to walk back across to the pavilion and get food during the tea break!


In previous issues we have explored counties and leagues that are approaching the challenges to recruiting officials in a different way. In Issue 31 we turned the spotlight onto Hertfordshire and how they were consistently recruiting new umpires to support league cricket; this time it’s the turn of a smaller league nearby. The Oxfordshire Cricket Association has a strong local history in the county spanning nearly one hundred years. As we know from the National Cricket Playing Survey, the quality of umpiring (and at some levels the independence) has a huge impact on player satisfaction and therefore the health of the game, and the OCA has taken a very strong approach to the recruitment of umpires.

Within the rules and constitution of the OCA for many years any team entering the league must supply an umpire to the panel. For some clubs this comes in the form of specific named individuals, whereas some teams use a rota to cover the games across a season. There are many teams which actually end up providing more than the required number of umpires (e.g. 2 teams and 3 umpires from the club). On the first occasion a team fails to provide an umpire there is a 5 point penalty and £25 fine and then any subsequent occasion

the team faces a 10 point penalty and £25 fine.The appointments are made by the relevant committee officer, with a strong knowledge of the local umpires allowing the right umpires to be appointed to the right matches. If an umpire is unable to officiate at any fixture it is that umpire’s parent club’s responsibility to find a replacement.

Only 25% of Saturday men’s league matches get two appointed umpires across the country.

For the OCA that number is somewhat of an outlier, sitting close to 100%. They appreciate that there are challenges in maintaining umpiring standards and promote ongoing education and development in order to best service the game and the players. However, undeniably they must be commended for finding a locally-driven solution to provide independent umpires for players, when many areas across the country face declining numbers.

If you know of a group using a different method to engage with and retain officials, we’d love to hear about it so that we can share best practice.

Contact us at [email protected]

OXFORDSHIRE CRICKET

ASSOCIATION

“Cricket in the Parks, Oxford University’s home ground provides a picturesque setting for cricket. The county’s local league has taken official matters into their own hands.”

SPOTLIGHT ON

aspiring umpires who recently participated in Warwickshire ACO’s Stage 2 course at Edgbaston thoroughly enjoyed the presence of a First-Class umpire at the second session of their two-day course.16

ASPIRING UMPIRES HEAR HOW IT IS DONE!

Paul Pollard, former Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire opening bat and a member of the First-Class umpires’ list since 2017, paid a visit to the course as part of a new initiative to provide a professional umpire to attend courses around the country.

Paul made a major contribution to the afternoon session on Managing Player Behaviour and applying Law 42 alongside the Warwickshire tutor team. After the initial activity of introducing course members to the requirements of Law 42 with the four levels of offence and their respective on-field sanctions, the course addressed the matter of umpires trying to manage player behaviour wherever possible in a pro-active sense. Paul provided many and varied perspectives on how he with his First-Class colleagues seek to manage players and work with captains to nip issues in the bud in the professional game.

Paul assisted by local Birmingham & District ECB Premier League and National Panel umpire Mansoor Qureshi addressed the issue of where the line lies between banter and abuse when discussing sledging and provided a range of potential responses umpires can employ in keeping firm control of match situations. The course members then looked at several case studies ranging from mild dissent to physical assault on another player to try and apply what they had learnt in terms of the Law 42 process and the proactive approach advocated by Paul and Mansoor.

The session finished with a look at how to manage disciplinary reporting processes and what might be expected by way of a good quality report for a league disciplinary officer or panel.

The afternoon ended with a question and answer session with Paul which covered

his playing career as a doughty opening bat facing some of the quickest bowlers in the world in the shape of Malcolm Marshall, Courtney Walsh, Silvester Clarke etc on some challenging pitches as well as his umpiring career to date. Topics covered included what life is like on the First-Class circuit as well as how umpires have adapted to the presence of DRS at televised matches.

We are very much indebted to Paul in enhancing what we normally offer our Stage 2 course members and giving an insight to officiating in the professional game. We look forward to the initiative continuing with future cohorts of aspiring umpires.

David JohnsonCounty Education Officer

Warwickshire County ACO.

Aspiring Umpires: “Inspiring the next generation: First-Class Umpire Paul Pollard with the Stage 2 umpires and the Warwickshire tutor team.”


We were staying at the club and as I was walking through the lobby, heading for dinner, I noticed floods of brightly attired men and women arriving. Many of them were wearing similar costumes in ochre or blue with reflective flashes sewn into the fabric. Most of the women were also swathed in a dazzling array of brightly coloured head scarves and jewellery.

My host told me I was witnessing people gathering together as a part of the festival of Navaratri and that tonight there would be a big celebration dance, known as Danya.

So post dinner, my host takes me to see what is going on and I find myself in a ballroom with 500 people. The noise is deafening, the swirl of colour as they all dance is an amazing sight, the laughter and joy in the room is infectious. It quickly becomes obvious to me that it is going to be my moment to do my Michael Palin impression. I guess I should have realised that as the only non-Indian present, it would be inevitable that I would be pressed to dance.

I looked around for help and sympathy and, as luck would have it, the prettiest girl in the room rushed over with a spare pair of Danys sticks. And, after a quick

lesson, she allowed me to make an average idiot of myself, much to the delight of my host and most people in the room! Photographic and video evidence of the event has been censored (by me!)

Why am I here I reflected? Oh because some years ago I said Yes, when asked if I would have a go umpiring Visually Impaired (VI) Cricket. So here I am in India, travelling around with the Indian and Sri Lankan teams officiating at their series of matches.

We began in Goa where, for a while the England team was also present, as the three countries played a T20 tri series. The final was live on Indian TV, India beating Sri Lanka; as they went on to do for the whole tour. I have umpired live on Indian TV before, but it would be wrong of me to pretend there was not a lot of nervous tension around before we got underway. From here we went to Pune, Mumbai, Bhopal, Ludhiana and Faridabad for T/20 matches and then onwards to Delhi, for an ODI, which was played as a day/night game. The first Blind cricket match played in India under lights. This was also live on national TV.

Although we did not rival the record crowd for a Blind Match (it being c30,000 people and that is not a typo – for the India v England game at last year’s Blind T20 World Cup) many of the matches had upwards of 5,000 people present. I have no idea what the TV audience may have been.

Most games were also attended by local dignitaries. Government ministers, State

Governors, MP’s, local politicians, heads of local police forces, film stars, and countless other officials. At most games the main visitor wanted to try their hand at batting or bowling and the role of the umpires quickly became protecting the pitch from the hundreds of press and media cameraman all looking for “the best angle”. I am not quite sure where in our training we are teaching this skill, but diplomacy and then a bit of shouting when that failed, seemed to do the trick.

I also became an overnight, but very short lived, celebratory and media star. I think in the time I was there I was included in more selfies that I have been photographed in the whole of my life, as well as doing a couple of TV interviews. Not quite Friday night on the couch – more a quickie in the big red chair!

I consider myself extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to stand in these international matches. I was one of two independent umpires – my colleague throughout the series, Sanowar Ahmed, was from Bangladesh where he also coaches their national Blind team. We were required to be with the two teams throughout the tour, which involved a lot of time spent travelling, mainly on coaches. Meals were taken in all sorts of venues, not least, breakfast one morning, when leaving Bhopal, that had been made especially for us by friends of the local Blind association and was served in the forecourt of a petrol station they own.

A lot of friends made and a lot of fun had along the way. I hope, I represented the ECB and the ACO properly and umpired as well as I am able to. I take some comfort from the fact the players and the organisers seemed happy at the end. Not many people get to officiate at these sorts of events. Standing in the gap between the two teams as their respective national anthems are played is a very

memorable event for me, as I am sure it would be for any of us. And it is something that you could be doing in the future.

All you have to do, to start on the route, is to answer Yes to the question; “would you like to try umpiring blind cricket?” The game has a lot of complex rules and requires an on and off field understanding of how to play sport with visually impaired people, including many who are totally blind. As a result, when senior international matches need officials, we have to select from the small group of people who know how to do this. That could as easily be any one of you, as it was me.

If plans work out as we think, there could be a lot of these matches being played in England in the next few years. So the time to say YES is right now, so you are up and running for 2019. It will not be every week. If you can give us 3 Saturdays or Sundays in the course of the season, we will be more than happy to get you going.

And who knows, it could be your “Strictly” moment in a year or two and you are likely to be better at it than I was!

AND I GOT TO DANCE WITH THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN THE ROOM…

UMPIRING ABROAD

“The Indian and Sri Lankan teams and the officials stand ready for the National Anthems”

“Les Clemenson standing in

the Sri Lanka v India ODI

series”

“It’s not all glamorous, breakfast at a petrol station in the Punjab”

“It’s not as easy as it looks – England players try their hand at VI cricket”

“The two umpires assisting one of the Indian players”

Send an email saying YES to Bob our secretary on [email protected] or to me [email protected] and we will do the rest.

The Gymkhana Club. Pune, India. 14th October 2018.

Many umpires and scorers have been busy and active over the winter around the world. This edition of Umpiring Abroad returns back to Visually Impaired cricket in India, where Les Clemenson was fortunate enough to umpire the India v Sri Lanka ODI series.


YOUNG(ER) AT HEART Last year in Issue 32 we looked back at Derek Young’s 70 years of involvement within cricket, umpiring over 3,000 matches. Our thanks to Mike Hibbert for sending the story of Don Summersgill from Yorkshire, and his 51st season in 2019 as an umpire. On April 19th 1969 in a second team match between Skipton and Addingham, Don Summersgill first stepped into the world of umpiring in the Airedale & Wharfedale Senior Cricket League.

It was the start of 50 consecutive years of umpiring in the league. Although Don has an interest in many sports, cricket has always been his first love. He first became involved with Bradford Moor Cricket Club in 1962 and he organised many tours all over the country in the 25 years he was connected with them. For an umpires’ appointments secretary, Don is a dream. Send him his fixtures in April and if you don’t see

or hear from him again until September you know he will have been to every game listed on time and done a good job. All this on buses and trains with the occasional lift from a colleague.

Don (right) is now looking forward to his 51st season in April 2019. His loyalty to the league and the game was recognised at the Umpires’ Association AGM, when he was presented with an inscribed tankard by the Association President John Chartres (left) and outgoing Secretary Tony Crowther (centre). The presentation was accompanied by a heartfelt round of applause from his fellow umpires and friends.

JOHN W HOLDEREx-First Class player, first class and international umpire and author of the book ‘You Are The Umpire, the ultimate illustrated guide to the Laws Of Cricket’, John has been awarded the Cricket Society’s Spirit of Cricket’s Award 2019 for Services to Cricket and to the game as a player, umpire and an author.

John was born and brought up in a small hamlet in the Barbados countryside. He was educated at St Giles Elementary and Combermere High Schools before coming to England as a teenager in 1964. Initially he worked as a train guard on the London Underground. He played cricket for Caribbean Cricket Club, a very strong team of West Indians. He also played for the BBC where the late Dr Bertie Clarke was a team mate. Bertie was a former West Indies leg spinner. Spotting John’s ability to bowl very fast, Bertie recommended him to Hampshire. His speed and hostility with the ball so impressed Hampshire that they quickly signed him on in 1966.

John played for Hampshire for seven years before a serious back injury forced him to end his county career. He returned to Barbados briefly but an offer and contract to come to the North to play club cricket lured him back to England. He played in the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues until 1982 and, wanting to get back into first class cricket, turned to umpiring. ”In terms of career and job satisfaction, that was the best decision I made” he says. “The 27 years of umpiring were hugely enjoyable, the best of my working life”.

A man truly devoted to the game, pictured here helping to paint Heywood CC’s scorebox as part of the NatWest Cricket Force.

During that time he also officiated in 11 Test Matches, starting with England v Sri Lanka, standing with David Constant, at Lord’s in 1988. He ended his Test career at Lord’s in 2001, standing in the Ashes Test with Jamaican Steve Bucknor. John also stood in 23 One Day Internationals and several domestic Lord’s Finals.

John has been a frequent broadcaster on points of law on Test Match Special. A great supporter of ECB ACO, he appears in several of our educational videos and has tutored on a number of courses.

IN TERMS OF CAREER AND JOB SATISFACTION, THAT WAS THE BEST DECISION I MADE.”

A man truly devoted to the game, pictured here helping to paint Heywood CC’s scorebox as part of the NatWest Cricket Force.”

“

A man truly devoted to the game, pictured here helping to paint Heywood CC’s scorebox as part of the NatWest Cricket Force.”

Former international umpire John Holder

briefing captains.


BYTHEBYES

In January Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena was awarded the 2018 David Shepherd Trophy for the ICC Umpire of the Year for the second time. The Colombo-born umpire played 31 Tests for his country and 141 ODIs (still holding the record for most number of ODI innings before being dismissed for a duck with 72) before switching to umpiring full-time after hanging his playing boots up in 2006. Dharmasena was elevated to the ICC Elite Umpires’ Panel in 2011, picking up the David Shepherd Trophy in 2012. In 2015 he stood in the final of the Men’s CWC (alongside Richard Kettleborough) and also in the final of the Men’s World T20 in 2016 (with Australia’s Rod Tucker). We have all found ourselves in

situations where bad light has forced the teams off the field, sometimes putting pressure on the officials to make decisions when teams require a wicket to win, or a handful of runs. However not often does too much light cause a halt in play, as happened in the opening men’s ODI between New Zealand and India in Napier. The pitch at McLean Park is unusually aligned West-East, meaning that as angle of the setting sun is directly in the batsman’s (and umpire’s eyes). A T20I two years ago was also stopped there for the same reason. South African umpire Shaun George said he had never seen such an occurrence in his 14-year umpiring career. “The setting sun is the eyes of the players and we need to think of the safety of the players as well as umpires”, George said. He also said the move to go off was initiated by the umpires. “There was an awareness of it by the players, but they didn’t appeal. The good news is we have an extra 30 minutes, so we should be back in 30 minutes and it will still be a 50-overs match”.

There are some grounds in England and Wales which have had similar issues, a Vitality T20 Blast match at Canterbury had to be paused to allow the sun to set beneath the stands.

In a bid to better represent backyard traditions at the top level, Australia’s Big Bash League this year introduced the bat flip. A specially made Kookaburra bat was flipped by the home captain, with his opponent calling “hills” or “flats” in place of the traditional coin. BBL head at Cricket Australia Kim Connie said, “For me it’s a great moment which reflects what BBL is about. If you think about a coin toss it’s not really what kids do. If you’re out in the backyard what do you do? You toss the bat to decide.” She added that there a surprising amount of science had gone into the development of the bat to ensure an equitable weighting.

Stephen Woodcock, a senior lecturer in mathematics at Sydney’s University of Technology, took matters into his own hands to test the equity. Admittedly using an old battered bat, he headed out into the garden and tested the variables for start position of hill and flat, and speed of flip (a low rotation of 2/3 flips versus a much higher rotation). He found only a slight bias towards landing “hills”.

We’ve reported previously on the South African Men’s captain having a bad run with the coin toss, yet Roger Crew may have

In New Zealand Women’s tour match against Australia Governor-General’s XI there were two rather bizarre dismissals. Rather surprising both involved Aussie seamer Heather Graham. A delivery in the 45th over was hit back straight hard by NZ batter Katie Perkins and hit the bat of non-striker Katey Martin. The force of the ball knocked the bat out of the Kiwi’s hand as the ball ballooned up in the air and was caught by a rather surprised Graham. The Aussies appeared to thank Martin for her part in the dismissal.

Two overs later and Martin was involved again in the chaos, this time being the batter dismissed. NZ captain Any Satterthwaite drilled a full delivery back along the ground that clattered into the stumps, removing the bails. The ball then rebounded back and Aussie fast bowler Sammy-Jo Johnson reacted quickly to pick up the ball and remove a stump from the ground connected to the ball in her other hand, with Katey Martin still short of her ground.

IT’S A BRACE FOR DHARMASENA

Dharmasena has picked up his 2nd David Shepherd Trophy for ICC

Umpire of the Year.

After a 37-year association with the club, Somerset’s Gerry Stickley announced his retirement as the 1st XI scorer. In the early 1990s, Stickley (who celebrated his 80th birthday last year) was on the First-Class Umpire list, before becoming the club’s 2nd XI scorer in 1997, and finally 1st XI scorer two years later. Gerry was scorer in 2001 when Somerset won the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, in 2005 when they lifted the T20 Cup, and again in 2007 when they gained promotion back to the top division of the Championship.

In an interview on the SCCC website Stickley said: “The main thing about scoring for me at this level is that you see the best cricket, and while I always want Somerset to win, I do enjoy the opposition if they are playing good cricket. You get to see the best cricket and get paid for it – what more do you want? I have really enjoyed my time with Somerset. It’s almost a family club and everybody gets along, which is important and not the case in all counties. In retrospect if I’d had the choice between being a First-Class umpire or scorer then I would have

taken up scoring earlier because if you make a mistake scoring you can put it right in 30 seconds, and nobody knows. If you make a mistake out in the middle, then everyone knows!”

Our congratulations to Gerry and thanks for his huge contribution to the game on and off the field and we wish him well with his retirement

taken that to a new level. The captain of Heatherhill CC 6th XI in Victoria, Australia, may be able to claim a world record 14 losses in a row. His side’s pre-game toss has become something of a local sensation with crowds and

photographers gathering as the number of losses kept building. Crew is said to be avidly against the “tails-never-fails” theory, preferring to rely on his mood on the day. The odds of achieving a losing streak of 14 tosses is 16.384:1.

Over the English winter female umpires around the world continued to break records at the top of the game. New Zealand’s Kim Cotton made her Women’s ODI debut, standing in the first two matches of the series against India. Her colleague for the first game was rather experienced himself, being fellow countryman Billy Bowden. Cotton made her international men’s debut before Christmas, where she was out in Fiji umpiring the World T20 Qualifier series.

South Africa’s Lauren Agenbag became the first woman from her country to stand in international cricket, and undoubtedly came close to the unofficial 140-year-old record when she became the youngest umpire to stand in international cricket. Previously Australia’s Simon Taufel was 27 when he stood in his first ODI, but records show George Coulthard was 15 days younger when he umpired the Melbourne Ashes Test in the 1878-9 series. Without doubt it

was a special day for the Centurion-born South African umpire when she stood in the match against Sri Lanka; with South Africa’s captain Dane Van Niekerk saying “it’s awesome to a see a woman out there doing really well. I wish her all the best and hopefully we’ll see her in the near future on the international circuit. She must be pretty special at what she does if she gets this opportunity. I haven’t played when she’s umpired before, but I said to her before the game that I’d heard really good things about her and I was excited to see her out there today.”

Over in Adelaide, Eloise Sheridan and Mary Waldron became the first all-female pair to stand in a men’s first-grade Premier League match. Umpiring the match between Tea Tree Gully and Northern Districts the umpires continued to break records in the Australian summer, with Sheridan standing alongside Claire Polosak in a Women’s BBL match to become the first pair to achieve the feat.

Somerset’s Gerry Stickley who recently retired from being Somerset’s 1st XI scorer

SOMERSET’S GERRY STICKLEY CALLS TIME AT SOMERSET

THREE STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT FOR MARTIN

(TOO MUCH) LIGHT STOPS PLAY

FEMALE UMPIRES CONTINUE TO BREAK RECORDS Here comes the sun – Shaun Haig

and Shaun George halt the game because of the angle of the sun

Eloise Sheridan and Claire Polosak becoming the first

all-female pair to stand in the Australia’s Women’s Big

Bash League.

“HILLS” OR “FLATS” – BBL FLIPS THINGS UP

Shane Watson, captain of Sydney Thunder, calls “Hills or Flats” as the specially made bet is flipped in a BBL match.

22-year-old Lauren Agenbag upon making her debut in international cricket.

New Zealand’s Kim Cotton recently made her ODI debut in the series against India.

It’s all smiles as Katey Martin’s bat helps to dismiss her teammate Katie Perkins


NEW UMPIRE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

In 2017 we launched our new suite of Umpire Courses and we also made the decision to separate the education part from accreditation – it was Education for All and accreditation for those that wanted it.The courses were a great success, but it was clear that the accreditation part needed improving. Feedback received from both participants and County ACOs told us that the process included too much paperwork, was not helping the development of new and existing umpires and perhaps worse of all was not enjoyable.

A working party was formed which included Regional Officers representing Performance, Appointments and Education as well as Chris Kelly (First Class Umpires Manager) and myself. We met on three occasions and the recommendations were formally approved by the ECB ACO Management Committee in January so that the new programme could be implemented this season.

So, what has changed?The new Accreditation programme is much less prescriptive and allows County ACOs to meet their own requirements.

It is designed for those umpires who want their competency assessed to the ECB ACO required standards and that is why it remains separate from the Education programme.

We are using experienced umpires as mentors and coaches who can provide encouragement and guidance that will enable all umpires to improve their match management capabilities.

The programme concentrates on self-assessment whilst working with a mentor. Candidates will identify their own issues, understand what they need to do to improve and this will help them develop the appropriate strategy to move forward.

To align accreditation with education, Umpire 2 Accreditation (U2A) will follow stage 2 (replacing U1A) and Umpire 3 Accreditation (U3A) will follow on from stage 3 (replacing U2A).

We believe that this Accreditation programme will encourage more umpires to become accredited and to potentially become better umpires whilst at the same time enjoying what they are doing.

If you are interested in gaining accreditation, please contact your County ACO Development Officer for more information.

2019 SEES THE LAUNCH OF THE

ECB First-Class and ICC Elite Panel Umpire Richard Kettleborough sat down with us to talk all things umpiring, from where it all started when he finished playing, right through to how he prepares for a Test Match.

How did you find moving from playing to umpiring?First of all the thing that struct me was just how tough it was. As a player you never really appreciate just how tough the job of an umpire is. I really enjoyed the responsibility that the job brings, the challenges (every day brings a different challenge with different conditions and pitches), meeting new people and standing with new colleagues. It was great to learn at the beginning from people who had been umpiring locally for a long time and pick their brains. I guess I just really enjoy being able to watch good players in action.

What’s your first memory of a game at the top level?My first game at 2nd XI level was Yorkshire v Notts at Rotherham CC, standing with Merv Kitchen. John Hampshire had leant me all his old umpiring gear. It was quite nerve-wracking to be honest with you. I’ve always backed myself as an umpire, far more than I did as a player, so I enjoyed it. I was always willing to ask questions, and Merv was absolutely outstanding and the help and advice he gave me I’ve taken on to this day.

Day 1 of a Test Match, what’s going through your head when you walk out?It’s always quite a nerve-wracking experience really. For me the night before a test match your mind is racing a little bit, who’s going to bat first, what are the conditions going to be like, how noisy is the crowd going to be? Because that obviously helps with nicks behind. The morning of a test match is pretty full on really. You get to the ground and prepare. Usually I like to chill out in the umpires’ room and get away from everything. And then switch on 10-15 minutes before a game when you get mic’d up by the DRS technician and walk out for the first ball and it’s vital that we are switched on for that first ball.

Have you got any special traditions or habits for the morning of the first day of a Test Match?Not really. Breathing techniques that I’ve developed working with a sports psychologist help to calm the nerves a little. First morning can be really nerve-wracking. You’re not quite sure what’s going to happen.

Do you spend any time in the middle prior to the start?Absolutely, you walk out with your colleague, and find out which umpire is the tallest (I’m usually the smallest!) and we toss a bail to find out which end we’re going to be standing at. I like to know which end I’m standing at to get a good view of where I’m going to be potentially for the next couple of days.

RICHARD KETTLEBOROUGH ON BECOMING AN UMPIRE AND LIFE IN THE TEST MATCH ARENA

Do you brief the captains before play?We’ll always meet the captains/coaches/managers the day before a Test Match, to go through the Laws, playing conditions and what we expect from them with regards to discipline and code of conduct. Pace of play is so vital these days with drinks and bats being run onto the pitch regularly, we have to keep the game going.

What does the umpiring community mean for you?I think the wider umpiring community now is important because at the end of the day we’re all doing the same job; we all have the same decisions to make, albeit at slightly different levels of the game. I think there needs to be a clear pathway umpires from recreational cricket, certainly for younger umpires (with more around now than ever before), to becoming professional umpires if they so wish.

What advice would you give to someone going out there for their first game?First of all I would tell them to enjoy the experience. You’ve chosen to do the job so make sure you enjoy it! I would like to see newer umpires standing with experienced colleagues to learn from them and really pick their brains on everything from decision making to management of the game, players and Ground Weather Light situations. One of the main things umpires have to do is to admit and learn from your mistakes. I think that’s the best way of moving forward.

“I really enjoyed the responsibility that the job brings, the challenges...meeting new people and standing with new colleagues.”

Richard Kettleborough chatting to New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson. For Kettleborough, standing in the nets the day before is really important to understand the way bowlers bowl (particularly the “mystery spinners”).


CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE 20

18TH

E

RES

ULT

There were forty-seven entries for the Challenge this year, including several from overseas, Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg, USA and the Isle of Wight, with ten all-correct solutions.

As usual the large majority of the questions presented our entrants with very few problems, but there were a few which need further comment. Scratchers 2 dealt with the time the lunch interval should be taken if a wicket falls within three minutes of the scheduled time. With the recent change of law, the expected answer was that the interval would be taken immediately, so the answer should be 27. There were twenty-one people who made an error with this one, seventeen of them giving 30 as their answer. I hope they will all agree that, if the clock was showing 1.27 when the wicket fell, they would expect the bowler’s end umpire to call “Time” and take the players from the field.

There were fourteen errors for Scratchers 11 when several entrants failed to add the one run for a No ball. There were only three other questions where there were more than five errors, two of them linked. In Notchers 7 and 8 (nine errors each), the ball would become dead as soon as the ball hit the cap lying on the ground, so the second run would not count; while in Notchers 6 (eleven errors), the fielder who had been sent off the field would be off for the remaining two balls of that over and then a further ten overs, giving the solution 62 legitimate balls rather than 60.

The successful entries were sent in by John Betts, Russell Brown, Jonathan Cousins, Malcolm Doody, Daron Gregory, Martyn Holloway-Neville, Cliff Loverock, Vijaya Mallela, John Smith and Mike Turner. The ECB ACO winner was Malcolm Doody.

As always I give my thanks to all those who sent in an entry, especially those who included friendly and appreciative comments.

SOLUTION

RESULT: Notchers won by 112 runs

NOTCHERS SCRATCHERS

1 15 52 64 273 150 294 0 1135 10 56 62 107 1 28 6 29 0 1510 15 011 1 6

EXTRAS 7 5TOTAL 331 219

CAPTION COMPETITION

RUNNERS-UP

WINNER

Our thanks to the huge number of people that sent in once more very imaginative responses to the Winter edition’s Caption Competition. Our independent panel have chosen some runners-up and a winner.

And the winner of this year’s Strictly Come Umpiring is…

Michael Griffin

Strictly Come Umpiring here I go!

Keith Ebdon

We will contact the winners of both competitions for their prizes. Thank you again to John for providing yet another great Scratchers v Notchers. Please feel free to send in any comical images you may take around the boundary over the summer.

Checking you asked for one leg Steve Beswick

Making Cricket Accessible is one of the six key priorities 2020-24 as part of Inspiring Generations. In 2018 a comprehensive and ambitious 11-point action plan was created to better engage with South Asian Communities. Working hard with Cricket East, Bedfordshire ACO ran a Stage One umpiring course at which all 17 attendees were South Asian. Steve Cobb, the lead tutor and County Education Officer, reported that “we agreed as tutors that they are the most collectively knowledgeable group that we have had. All wish to progress to Stage 2, mainly this time next year but a couple are booking onto the Letchworth course next month [and one going to Radlett]. Most do some umpiring now for clubs mainly in the Luton Midweek League. All plan to do some umpiring this season, two in particular wish to joins the Beds Sunday Panel and stand with experienced colleagues.”

A huge congratulations to Bedfordshire and Cricket East for the collaborative effort to get this course off the ground and see such great returns from it.

BEDFORDSHIRELEADS THE WAY


Scoring - Unboxed!

We’ve had ‘Cricket Unleashed’ and, as part of the Officiating Strategy, we now have ‘Scoring – Unboxed!’ This is the presentation given by Heather Vernon, the National Scorer’s Officer, at the recent Regional Conferences around the country.

The overall aim of ‘Scoring – Unboxed!’ is to raise the profile of scorers and scoring while respecting traditional values and reflecting change where change is needed. There are four main areas being covered: Value and Visibility; Identity & Individuality; Recruitment & Retention; Progression & Planning.

VALUE & VISIBILITY - We’ve had the slogan ‘Scorers Count!’ for some time now and it’s important to reiterate that statement. Cricket needs Scorers – but we cannot be precious about

our role. That role is changing in some areas of the game more than others and we must keep pace with those changes or risk becoming obsolete.

Change happens at different levels and in different ways. We need to identify what is required at each level of the game and respond accordingly. What is required from a recreational Scorer in a league match is likely to be different to what is required for a county match and different again for a junior-level club game.

Scorers add value to the game – and I want to encourage Scorers to be proactive. We have the means, through the reporting side of Play-Cricket Scorer & PCS PRO, to provide a better service to all interested parties (players, coaches, fans, etc). Last season, when a player in my team scored 50 I printed his Wagon Wheel and, to his surprise, gave it to him. The following week another player, who got 35 runs, asked if he could still have his WW even though he hadn’t got a 50, followed by a bowler who wanted his WW to see where runs were being scored off his bowling. This season they will be able to get that information on-line too.

Being proactive is also about valuing our scorers, identifying them, building links

within the officiating community, and about promoting scorer’ education.But in all this we have to be realistic about change. Statistics have always been part of the game and particularly at the recreational level it is likely to be the scorer who provides them. I took Maths with Statistics at O level but I have no desire to be a statistician. However, I am prepared to run reports collected by the scoring software through the details I record during a match.

In terms of visibility, we need to raise the general awareness about scoring and scorers so that it becomes something people want to do.

Greater visibility means recognising scorers in matches at all levels. We must not settle for Leagues abdicating responsibility for scorers in the recreational game because we are club-based rather than centrally-appointed.

And for centrally-appointed scoring, it’s not acceptable for scorers to get their ‘thank-you’ through the post. Scorers should be there alongside the umpires and other officials. This is not about wanting glory. It’s about acknowledging that scorers are members of the ‘Third Team’ of officials.

IDENTITY AND INDIVIDUALITY - The ECB ACO has been representing cricket officials for ten years now, although not enough scorers are members. However, as members of ECB ACO, it is important that we don’t lose our identity. I use a phrase taken from the counselling world – ‘we are a part and yet apart’. We are a part of the official’s team but we are apart from umpires. We may be ‘officials’ but we are all different. Each ‘official’ has their own role to play and their own set of skills to bring to the game. Identifying what each role covers will help us work together more effectively and efficiently if we recognise the differences are complementary rather than in competition.

We are equal yet different and we should no longer be prepared to be the Cinderella in cricket. Equally, we should not condone or allow a victim mentality among scorers, and that’s where the proactive response comes in.

It may have taken a while but at last the signage used by the venue for the meetings of my County ACO no longer says ‘ACO Umpires Committee’. It required me to keep challenging them – three years of asking if, as a scorer, I was in the right place seems to have got the message across!

Individuality is about respecting tradition but also moving with the times – we need to take advantage of the developments in technology to better serve all interested parties within the game. Inevitably change happens – at some point, the Notchers swapped their stick and knife for a scorebook and pen – and we have to be flexible and realistic.

We must recognise and reflect individual situations. At recreational club cricket, there won’t be a Statistician; but there may well be a scorer willing or wanting to provide reports and statistics. That has been the case even before the advent of electronic scoring. We may only be required to record runs, wickets, and overs, but with just that basic information the new software can produce a wealth of statistics.

Being yourself, recognising individuality, encourages assertiveness and helps scorers find a voice.

ECB ACO needs to support this through the RSO/CSO network and the community of scorers by affirming the situation in which a scorer is scoring, recognising that different levels require different duties, and encouraging training for all scorers wherever and whatever matches they are scoring.

Finding a voice means also challenging the negatives – things like bad practice and poor conditions. That means working

to improve conditions for scorers and encourage scorers to speak up and not put up with poor facilities. Being part of the scoring community means supporting one another.

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION - This is a really important area that needs the attention of all scorers. Recruitment requires us to be responsive – in both reactive and proactive ways – so we can reach scorers wherever they are as part of building a single scoring community that encourages good practice and values ALL scorers.

We know that some scorers get involved through a family member. It may be a mum or dad helping out because their son/daughter is playing in a junior match. The challenge is how to retain these volunteers as their child grows and moves to higher levels or if they leave the game.

Some people may not see themselves as official ‘scorers’ but more as someone ‘helping out’. We need to find ways to support and encourage them and it may be that the ‘Introduction to Scoring’ course would, for them, need to cover some basic scoring skills and the Play-Cricket Scorer App.

PROGRESSION AND PLANNING - The Scorer’s Education Manager, Sue Drinkwater, has done an amazing job writing and updating the various courses and CPD Modules. There is now a clear Scorer’s Pathway providing a structured route for training scorers. We must build on this and encourage more scorers to get involved. Sue has worked closely with Andy Scarlett, who has been leading on the Development Observations and Verification process, so that we now have more Tutors and more Development Observers able to offer Professional Discussions and formal observations for Scorer’s portfolios.

Young scorers coming into the game are already very proficient with IT and pick up Play-Cricket Scorer PRO or the Scorer App quite easily. Their training needs may be different from those of an experienced, paper-based Scorer so flexibility is required in what courses we offer and how we market those courses. Perhaps these IT-savvy young scorers would be better learning a simple form of Linear Scoring rather than the traditional box method?

Sam Blacklock is a Young Scorer and also the Durham County Scorer’s Officer. He has done a great job in using social media to publicise the courses in his county and is now seeing a significant increase in people attending the ‘Introduction to Scoring’ and ‘Club Scorer’ courses in his county. Maybe other counties can learn from his methods.

Whatever age the Scorers are that we are recruiting and training, it is important that they can see a progression ahead of them, if that’s what they want. Whether they stay scoring for their local team or whether their aim is to eventually score a Test Match, there needs to be a clear pathway for progression within the scoring community we are building.

SUCCESSION PLANNING – in all levels of the game – is part of retaining Scorers and providing that clear pathway from the recreational game into the professional game. Some counties are already developing a Panel of experienced Scorers who can learn what is required by the professional game and develop their skills so they can provide back-up to current County Scorers.

Finally, the ECB is currently working on an Officiating Strategy to take us forward into 2020-2024 and incorporating the aims of ‘Inspiring Generations’. To do this, we need to think outside the (score)box!This means asking Scorers:• What are the known knowns?• What are the known unknowns?• What are the unknown unknowns?

In effect, what do we know we know and how can we build on this?What do we know we don’t know – such as how many scorers are there with no links to the ACO? Who are they and where are they?

And, what might be the unknowns that we don’t know yet – including ‘What will scoring look like in 2025?

So, this season, talk to the Scorers you meet about the future of scoring and feel free to contact me with ideas, questions, or your own experiences of scoring. Here’s to 2019 and beyond!

Heather Vernon

National Scorer’s Officer

[email protected]


As I sit down to write this report the sun is shining and the weather forecast is for a warm end to the week. It is beginning to feel like Spring is coming and that means the cricket season is almost upon us. Wherever did the off-season go?

Cricket in 2019 is gearing up to be very exciting. We have the Men’s World Cup, the Men’s and Women’s Ashes, and an International Physical Disability Cricket Tournament, alongside all the domestic cricket in our counties and leagues, including more news on the 100-game.

On the day of writing this, I was at Lords for a meeting and watched Michael Vaughan and others at the launch of the World Cup. You may have seen pictures of Nelson’s Column decked out as a wicket! It seems likely that on any given day this summer there will be cricket being played somewhere and the exciting developments within our scoring software – the Play-Cricket Scorer App and Play-Cricket Scorer PRO – mean that Play-Cricket Live will have more live scores, more scorecards, and more live streaming than ever before.

At the time of writing this report, details about the latest Play-Cricket and Scorer PRO developments are being presented in Roadshows across the country. Hopefully, you were able to go along to one of them. A few Roadshows included some basic training in using Scorer PRO, as a number of Leagues are making its use mandatory in their Premier Divisions. For more in-depth training, Heather Vernon

National Scorer’s Officer

the Electronic Scoring Module now covers Play-Cricket Scorer PRO thanks to our Scorer’s Education Manager, Sue Drinkwater, who has done a magnificent job in updating and developing the scorer’s training courses on offer.

Elsewhere in this edition of the ACO magazine there is information about ‘Scoring – Unboxed!’ which is one of the foundations for the work being undertaken to develop an ECB ACO Officiating Strategy to take the game forward through 2020-2024. I presented it to Regional and County Scorer’s Officers at their conferences, and to other interested parties, throughout January and February. Following on from this some formal research has been commissioned to test out various hypotheses relating to umpiring and scoring with the aim of identifying ‘the right officials for the right game’. To assist in this

process, several representatives from the scoring community met with the Strategy Group to ask, among other things, ‘What do we think scoring will look like in 2025?’ Their discussions will contribute to the development of the whole-game Strategy, which is due to be launched ready for 2020.

The huge leap forward and opportunities that technology has given us over the last 18 months means cricket scoring cannot stand still. We must embrace those opportunities or become obsolete, at least at some levels of the game. So, as the 2019 season begins, it feels like a very big year;

WATCH THIS SPACE!

“THE HUGE LEAP FORWARD AND

OPPORTUNITIES THAT TECHNOLOGY HAS GIVEN US..CRICKET SCORING CANNOT

STAND STILL.”

NATIONAL SCORER’S OFFICER’S REPORT

FEBRUARY 2019

An update from the Scorer Education Manager (SEM)

We live in a digital age and as scorers, are being encouraged to use technology not only as a means of scoring but to communicate with each other, our players, teams and competition management. This doesn’t appeal to all scorers. For many, the enjoyment comes from completing an accurate, beautiful and often colourful scorebook. I didn’t take up scoring to be a button pusher but have accepted that the world is evolving and we must evolve with it to keep cricket alive and fun. Although we score for our own enjoyment, our aim is to provide players and teams with information. Many people today expect data to be instantly available and some scorers have the means to provide that using a variety of tools, including (amongst others) the Play Cricket Scorer app and Play Cricket Scorer Pro software, linking scores regularly across leagues in Play Cricket Live and outputting to social media for players, their familiesand friends.

When I learnt to score I used a pencil, separating each scoring shot with a dot but gradually embraced coloured pens, balls received, extra symbols and linear scoring, before moving into the world of electronic scoring and at some stage, notchers had to give up their sticks for paper and pen.

To support you in this transition, in February 2019 the Electronic Scoring course based on PCS Pro was launched and run in 8 different counties this winter. There might still be time to book

on one near you before the season starts.18+ Scoring Roadshows are be taking place during March and April, with varying content depending on need but will largely be based on the two Play-Cricket scoring packages and will bring you news of the updated versions of these programs.

I still urge anyone scoring electronically to also do a simple paper scoresheet (linear lends itself well to this purpose), so that not only do you have a backup when technology fails, you also get to do the fun bit of completing a personalised scoresheet.

There has been a wide variety of courses on offer (both paper and electronic) this winter, so thanks to all those tutors who made this happen and if you’re still looking for an event near you, why not visit the ECB ACO website and see what’s going on under the Find A Course option?

I wish you all a good scoring season whatever your chosen method and don’t forget that for anyone wanting to progress along the scorer pathway, during the season is the time to build your scoring portfolio and gain colleague feedback, ready for accreditation in the autumn.

Sue DrinkwaterScorer Education Manger

22nd February 2019.

I hope that you have wintered well and are ready for an exciting season ahead, using your preferred scoring method and that you managed to find a suitable scoring course in the winter to help you prepare.


PLAY-CRICKET SCORER & PRO UPDATES 2019

• New Match – checks on the server for existing match on this date for these two teams to avoid duplication of matches. Prompts if it finds one with override allowed.

• Open Match • Remembers the last mode you scored this match in

(Live, Support, Local).• Close and re-open match to switch scoring mode.

• Match set up screen• Tick box to ‘Start with no players’ for quick start when

players are unknown.• Live Scorer and Local Scorer buttons have been

combined into Start Scoring button.• Start Scoring button has drop down for Live, Support,

Local Scorers plus Video Analyst.• Support Scorer allows end of over checks with Live

Scorer and/or Video Analyst.• Support Scorer scoring is backed up on the server.• Local Scorer is in local database only. No back up and

no end of over checks.• Number of scorers (other than local) is shown on the

task bar (bottom right).• Your scoring status (Live, Support etc.) is shown in the

task bar (bottom middle).• Confirmation of striker and non-striker in Incoming

Batsman at start of innings or when two batsmen are replaced (e.g. double retirement).

• Prompt added when switching batsmen to check for reason (e.g. Short Run).

• Tools – Configuration - new tabs for Video, Network and Live Streaming• Scoring tab - tick box for using 0 instead of dot balls in

This Over and Scorecard.• Scoring tab - tick box to omit initials from wicket

descriptions in the Scorecard.• Scoring tab - option to prompt for bowler every over.• Network tab – option to check end of over score with

other connected scorers.• Scoreboard tab – options for the following (affect

internal and external boards):-• Keep incoming player in same position as outgoing

(i.e. top/bottom or left/right)• Show outgoing batsman until incoming confirmed.• Blank output until play started/batsmen confirmed.• Use 24 hour clock.

• Internal Scoreboard:• Dull text has been made brighter.• Cog (top right corner) – Screen Settings – choose your

own scoreboard colours.• Cog – Screen Type – new types including batsmen on

left/right hand sides.• Can be shown in a separate location (clubhouse) via

Google Chrome Cast.• Notes:

• Can set a custom break to provide details to online users e.g. ‘rain - inspection at 2pm’.

• Can add notes when match is in Pre-Toss state.• New Milestone Notes panel, e.g. 1000th championship

runs by Player A.• Automated scorecard note for previously Retired-Not

Out player who returns.• Penalty runs• Can add or change Penalty Runs on a previous innings.• Can choose ‘Other’ as penalty type and amend later when

more details are known.• Double click in penalty type to amend the selection.• Duckworth Lewis Stern – version 3 added.

• DLS drop down contains Standard, Pro v2 and Pro v3.• Option of ‘Par Score’ for ‘DLS Display’ settings

alongside ‘End of Ball’ and ‘End of Over’.• In play substitutes

(Match details/team option – Replace button)• Drop down for Concussion Sub and Straight Sub

(player called up to another team).• Substitute player list contains ALL team players. Don’t

choose someone already playing.• Adds an automatic note to say when and why a

substitute was added.• Change to captain or keeper in play, prompts for whole

match (error correction) or from this point onwards (replacement keeper/captain).

• Can only change keeper for part match while the keeper’s team is fielding.

• Scorecards etc. will identify double captains and/or double keepers as appropriate.

• New Player/Role Subs link (bottom left) to view/amend the list.

• Double click to amend sub type or over/ball or choose Delete to remove the sub.

• Wicket recording• Can specify a second fielder for a catch (catch assist).• Wicketkeeper appears at the top of the Fielder drop-

down list.• Wicketkeeper position automatically populated when

choosing wicketkeeper as catcher.• Obstruction allows the Batsmen Crossed box to be

ticked (bug fix).• Sub Fielder boxes have been removed.• New Sub Fielder box has moved to next to Fielder 1.• Sub Fielder can be attributed to a Stumping dismissal.• Incoming batsman box has link for Timed Out and

Absent.• Scoring Menu also has link for Timed Out and Absent.• Attributing 10th wicket as Absent triggers the end of

the innings (bug fix).• Absent is no longer considered to be a wicket (bug fix).• Double Retirement added to the Wicket drop down for

2 players leaving simultaneously.• Can correct the batsman dismissed on a previous ball

and use Auto Correct to reassign balls receive, unless the batsman has been dismissed in the intervening period.

• Can add a wicket to an earlier ball, unless the batsman has since been dismissed.

• Can change a Retired Not Out entry to Retired Out (and vice versa) in Edit mode.

• Scorebook view – total minutes and balls added and bug fix of penalty runs display.

• Scorecard view - double lines in batting details to indicate a resumed innings.

• New views for session data and linear scoresheet. Can be added as tabs in Scorecard area.

• Reports under Statistics menu• New reports for Dot ball spells, Session data.• Excel Reports – exports analyst data to Microsoft Excel.• Player Averages No Ball column displays the number of

No Balls bowled with the total of all runs off those No Balls shown in brackets.

• Ball by ball report shows fielding positions where used.• Wide displayed as ‘w’ for one wide delivery. If additional

runs scored display is ‘w+1’ etc.• Button to the left of ‘Undo’ allows add/insert/delete balls

in Edit Mode • Time column has been added to the Ball-by-Ball panel

(scroll right).• Shortcut keys added for Match Scorecard F7 and Match

Scorebook F8.

PCS PRO SCORING FEATURE UPDATES SINCE V1.2

It’s almost March 2019 as I write this, and it’s hard to believe that only two years ago we were contemplating a season of disruption and uncertainty over the future and performance of TCS.

Here we are in 2019 with a robust, scorer-designed, software programme that is responsive to the needs at all levels of cricket.

Over the winter there has been work going on to improve Scorer & Scorer PRO and also to build the links with Play-Cricket, including a lot of work tidying up duplications within Play-Cricket itself, and providing more control to prevent them happening in the future.

Some of the new features have already been tested over the season in New

Zealand and thanks need to go to the dedicated team of scorers in this country who have been prioritising and testing the changes you are now seeing here.

While there may not seem to be huge changes for scorers, they are generally ones that have been requested, such as the option for a prompt of the next bowler at the end of every over and the scoreboard not displaying the next batsman, when a wicket falls, until the scorer has confirmed who is coming in to bat. The idea of giving the software user more options to switch features on/off helps reflect how each of us wants to score, including the layout of the different windows, which can be opened, closed, or moved around.

By now, all the Roadshows around the country will have taken place and hopefully you were able to attend one and see for yourself the new features. If you’re new to Scorer or Scorer PRO this season then do make use of the Help System and Support Team. They have grown in numbers over the winter and aim to provide a fast and efficient service.We know that over 50,000 of matches have now been scored across the two

platforms (75% on Play-Cricket Scorer and 25% on Scorer PRO). If you’ve never tried either programme then maybe have a go this season – they’re both free and can be used on a phone or tablet/iPad! The Scorer App is very intuitive and is ideal for matches where players may have to share the scoring – we’re calling that ‘tag scoring’ – and Scorer PRO has some excellent guides in the Help System to get you started. The ECB ACO training package now includes a Module on Electronic Scoring which covers Scorer PRO. Details of a course near you are on the ECB ACO website in the ‘Scorers Count! section or you can contact your County Scorer’s Officer. If you’re not sure who that is then email [email protected] and we will pass your details to the relevant CSO.

The details below, put together by Sue Drinkwater the Scorer’s Education Manager, list the Scorer PRO changes released for the 2019 season and covered on the Roadshows. There are some significant changes also released in the Analyst’s area of Scorer PRO and in the Video Recording and more details on these are available by contacting the Support Team.


ANSWER: Under Law 19.7, as the umpire indicated that five runs were to be scored, the Batsmen must have crossed once at the point the Fielder threw the ball, which then went across the boundary for four overthrows. However, if the Batsmen were at the wrong ends (i.e. Batsman A was on strike again) then something else must have happened. The Batsmen may have returned to their original ends because the ball crossed the boundary but then the Umpire should have sent them back to the end they were at after the first completed run. The mistake in not sending them to the correct ends has to stand, as does the subsequent six off the next ball. It is similar to the umpires miscounting and allowing a seventh ball which is hit for a boundary; the seventh ball stands (Law 17.5.1). The mistake, in this case, simply has to be accepted. Law 2.12 was amended slightly (adding ‘any’) in 2017 to give the umpires some leeway in that “the umpire may alter any decision provided that such alteration is made promptly. This apart, an umpire’s decision once made is final”. The key word here is ‘promptly’. By allowing the bowler to deliver the ball that was hit for a six, play has proceeded beyond that point, so any retrospective move to declare the ball null and void cannot meet this definition. (David Johnson, West Midlands REO)

ANSWER: Sadly, this was a real example and illustrates that Scorers, particularly in the recreational game, too often find themselves in unpleasant surroundings. Scoreboxes tend to become storage spaces during the winter and even in Leagues where the Umpires are asked to report on the Scorer’s facilities, change can be slow to happen. I would suggest the scorers draw the attention of the captains and whoever runs that ground and facilities, to the state of the scorebox. If an alternative location is required for the scorers away from the scorebox, then inform the umpires of this and explain that the scoreboard may not be updated as frequently as they would like due to the scorebox being unusable. This can become complicated if the scoreboard has to be manually updated or where there is no wi-fi connection for an electronic scoreboard, so it cannot be updated remotely. Scorers should not be forced to accept poor conditions and it is important to challenge this type of situation. (Heather Vernon NSO)

FAQSBatsman A hits the ball and they run one run. The Fielder picks up the ball and throws it wildly at the stumps, misses, and it continues across the outfield and over the boundary for four runs. The Umpire signals to the scorers that it is five runs. However, Batsman A is on strike again and hits the next ball for six. The Fielding Captain points out to the Umpire that the Batsmen were at the wrong ends for a single + boundary four. What should happen?

FEBRUARY 2019

Q

ANSWER: Law 17.3.2.4 says that a wide ball does not count as one of the six balls in an over. So, although the last wicket fell on a wide ball, thus ending the innings, the ball does not count as a valid ball. The batsman would be recorded as ‘out: stumped’; the wide would be recorded as normal and the total score increased by the value of the wide; and the side batting second would be recorded as being all out in 49.3 overs.

ANSWER: There are a number of reasons why you might use Absent. Sometimes in the multi-day County matches a player in, for example, the 2nd XI, may be called up to the 1st XI in another match. Or a player may be called away for a work commitment, such as doctor on call. It may also be for someone taken ill during a match and who is unable to bat. If they were taken ill while batting then they would be deemed to be ‘Retired Not Out’. But if they were taken ill before having batted and maybe gone to hospital for treatment, then they would be ‘Absent’. If the batting side was on, for example, 210-9 and the 11th batsman was not present then they would be marked as being ‘Absent’ and the result would be ‘210-9 (All Out)’. It’s worth mentioning here that the media sometimes refer to a player as ‘Retired Hurt’ but this is NOT a valid term.

ANSWER: This is a situation where the advice/theory may be very clear but acting on it can become complicated. The Home Scorer should, like all scorers over the age of 16 years, have a current DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) certificate. They need to take responsibility for ensuring the well-being and safety of the young scorer and of themselves. The guidance from ECB under Safeguarding would be that ‘Scorers should never occupy a remote scorebox with a minor (some opinions would say no scorebox at all). In such a case, the two scorers should sit together in full view of the other participants. On a hot or mild day this could be outside; on a cold day, in the pavilion. An alternative solution may be for the club that has provided the young scorer to also provide a suitably-vetted adult to accompany them in the scorebox’.

As Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and must be taken seriously, it would be advisable for the Home Scorer to bring the matter to the attention of the club’s Welfare Officer or another club official if present, and enlist their support in resolving the situation. It is advisable to inform the umpires where the scorers will be sitting and why so that the umpires know where to signal.

When might I need to mark a batsman as Absent in the ‘How Out?’ column?Q

As a Scorer, you arrive at an Away Match in good time and are directed to the scorebox. When you get there, you find it is in a mess. The floor is cluttered with old scoreboard numbers, cardboard, and general rub-bish. The work-surface is filthy with dust and there are dirty mugs and empty crisp packets scattered around. The chairs are hard dining-type chairs and behind yours is a large sign that has been wedged upright and that falls forward as you move your chair. What would you do?Q

The Home Scorer arrives at the ground to find that the Away side’s regular scorer has been taken ill and an injured player from the 3rd XI is scoring the match. However, the injured player appears to be quite young and on being asked, says that they are 14 years old. The scorebox is at the far side of the ground, well away from the pavilion. What should the Home Scorer do?Q

With 49.3 overs gone in a 50-over match, the Batsman is stumped off a Wide ball. So, the batting side are all out and the match is over. The question from the scorer was whether the wide counted as a ball in the second inning’s figures. So, was the losing side all out in 49.3 or 49.4 overs?Q


LEAVING THE CREASE

Derek commenced umpiring in the Bradford League in 1964 when he gave up playing. In 1968 he became Chairman of the league umpires’ association, a position he held for 29 years until 1997 when he became the association President.

He continued to umpire in the League for 45 years until his health prevented him from standing for long periods. Derek stood in over 1000 games in the Bradford Cricket League

However, at the age of 80, he then became a club scorer in the league and mastered the TCS scoring system which was used by all scorers in the league. He continued as a club scorer until 2015.

Derek was responsible for setting up the West Yorkshire Branch of Association of Cricket Umpires around 1970, a branch of which he was Chairman for many years.

A physics teacher at Hanson School in Bradford by profession he was an umpire tutor for 40 years and in 1976 he assisted in establishing the branches of Association of Cricket Umpires & Scorers (ACU&S) throughout the country. He served ACU&S as Regional Training Officer for the North East Region and was Chairman of the Training Committee. He was also a qualified Scorer Tutor.

He would tutor anywhere in the County and has also been known to go across to Lancashire to deliver both umpire and scorer courses. It is impossible to calculate the number of candidates tutored over the years but it is certain is that a very high percentage passed their exams due to Derek’s knowledge and professionalism which will also have helped them to put into practice on the field what Derek has taught them in the classroom.

His commitment to the game was second to none and he was always willing to pass on his advice to any new umpire or scorer.

He was an Honorary Life Member ECB ACO and was President of the Leeds Branch A true gentleman, Derek was well respected by players, captains, fellow umpires and scorers. His commitment to cricket officiating in Yorkshire was outstanding and remarkable for more than 50 years. It was his drive all those years ago to encourage umpires

to take a qualification and improve the quality of umpiring in the County. His work is carried on now, by others, many of whom have themselves been taught by Derek.

Derek remained single throughout his life. Outside cricket his loves were travel and photography. He was also a member of a local United Reformed Church.

Derek was born on 13th September 1929 and died on 13th January 2019.

Glyn Pearson

DEREK BLOORDEREK SHUTTLEWORTH Derek started playing cricket at Joblings CC

in Stone before moving to Hanford CC in the 1980s. He was a barnacle opening bat, who prided himself in occasionally getting the ball off the square (his own words!) We shared many drawn-out hours together at the crease. He was also a very useful part-time swing bowler and occasional wicket-keeper.

In his late teens, he had spent a short period in the navy (which will be mentioned again later) before taking up his profession as a social worker, which he did for somewhere in the region of 40 years. This was more a calling than a profession – and he did it with compassion, rising to a senior position. In this capacity he was highly respected.

He became an umpire in the mid-1990s, following the pattern of so many players before him. He quickly advanced through the ranks of local umpires and soon became one of the top umpires in the area, respected by colleagues and players alike.

In the early 2000s he decided to become an umpire instructor, as we were then called, under the expert tutelage of Derek Rowley. When the latter retired as an instructor, DB (as he was known) continued with me, also taking on basic scorer tuition, out of a lack of specialist tutors in the county. One of his favourite tutoring expressions came from his navy days. When teaching the LBW law, he made a special point of advising wannabe umpires to wait briefly following the appeal before giving the decision. He advised reciting the (silent) mantra “Hup, two, three” before raising the dreaded digit. This rifle-drill phrase gave just enough time to consider the decision without being over-long.

In 2006 he took on the role of Honorary League Secretary for the North Staffs & South Cheshire Cricket League, a position he held until 2015. He undertook two major revisions of League rules during his period in office. On vacating the post, he was made a Life Vice-President of the league. The current format of the league’s handbook owes much to his unstinting hard work. He took over the post of County Education Officer for Staffordshire’s ACO in 2015, a position he held for a couple of years.

Derek remained very active on-field as an umpire, right up to the end of last season, officiating from Premier Division level at one extreme down to age-group boys’ and girls’ cricket. He was very keen to bring on up and coming umpires and was always prepared to put himself out for cricket.

At about the time he gave up the CEO position, he decided he needed to look for a different form of stimulus. After a lifetime of playing cards, he was persuaded to take up playing bridge. He loved it, asking himself why the game had passed him by for so long and I almost wonder if it took over prime position in his list of interests and activities. Last year, he was awarded the “best improver” trophy at our local bridge club.

Derek became ill in early November and had immediate emergency abdominal surgery. After almost 4 months in hospital, he had reconstructive surgery on 20th February. Sadly, complications arose, and he passed away on 22nd February – coincidentally, his 73rd birthday. He will be sorely missed.

He is survived by his daughters Amy and Holly.

Keith Healey, co-tutor & fellow umpire

ASSOCIATION OF CRICKET OFFICIALS · Phone - 0121 446 2710 Email – [email protected] ACO...

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