ECB ACO Board Statement
A New Future
The Opportunity
Due to the revised regional organisation of ECB, our Association has a unique opportunity to play a full part in the management of our game at every level of recreational cricket. The ACO Board believes that we have to embrace this opportunity.
Influence on the Game
The direct contact between our Regional Representatives with the ECB’ s Heads of Regions and the County ACOs and League panels will enable us to stress with greater force the importance of properly qualified officials to increase participation in the game. Recent player surveys have highlighted that playing experiences are greatly enhanced by having two umpires and two scorers. The most effective way to get this vital message across is through direct involvement in the body that governs our game.
Our Funds
ACO is already part of the structure of ECB. Fuller integration in the new structure of the governing body will serve to increase the benefits that this working relationship provides. As can be seen from the balance sheet presented at each AGM, we generate around £ 300,000 each year from our own resources. ECB provides a direct funding of £ 100,000 to support our activities.
Importance of the Core Volunteer Workforce
Thanks to this funding, we support the invaluable activities of the vast army of core volunteer workers at every County ACO and local association. This includes providing education and training for our members and for new recruits, continuous professional development, observation of umpires to help improve their performance, and many more activities behind the scenes. These volunteers are crucial to the future of the ACO and the game. The funding from ECB helps secure this future. This money, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. A large number of benefits to ACO are not shown in the balance sheet. This value in kind support amounts to so much more.
Provision of ECB Central Resources
ECB covers the full cost of employing up to seven full-time staff who work on our behalf. This includes not only their salaries, but also the cost of office space and equipment, including IT and pensions. In addition, we make savings on the activities of these staff members by gaining from economies of scale, including on travel expenses and accommodation. This applies in many other fields such as marketing, membership services, financial management and IT work, including developing more sophisticated programmes for our education activities. Under the new arrangements, we would be able to tap into a much wider pool of expertise in all of these fields.
Conclusion
The Memorandum of Understanding( MOU) so painstakingly negotiated by Roger Knight and Tony Hemmings with the previous management of ECB has now been surpassed by events. We appreciate that this has led to a degree of mistrust in some quarters. ECB, and its new management team, recognises the need to work closely with the game’ s match officials to help with its main objective of inspiring more people to play the game. We are pushing at an open door as we seek to enhance the status of our organisation and of officiating as a whole.
That is why the Board, which would become the Management Committee, recommends the new arrangements. It is not just the best way forward; it is the only way forward. The potential benefits for our Association, for you our members, and to the game as a whole, are immense. For all of the reasons detailed above, this is an opportunity we must embrace.
As a proud membership association, we ask you to take this opportunity to make your voice heard and shape the future of ECB ACO.
The ECB ACO Board recommends that you vote in favour of evolving to a seven-region structure but, whatever your opinion, please do participate in the vote.
6 email us at ecb. aco @ ecb. co. uk contact us on 0121 446 2710