Association of Cricket Officials Issue 28 | Page 23

Your Letters Brian Shepherd, Hertfordshire ACO As a senior umpire, I do not have the need to buy ‘starter packs’ as I have acquired it all over the years and replace it as and when I need to. I therefore aim my personal comments mainly at shirt prices. The prospect of buying a single, basic long-sleeved shirt at £30 and a pro range long-sleeved shirt at £50 I consider to be too expensive; particularly when ECB ACO expects, quite rightly, that umpires have this 'formal gear' when walking onto the field of play. The manufacture and general quality of the shirts is also inconsistent. I bought two in a 'special deal' and on one of the shirts, the breast pocket has sagged very badly and looks unsightly. If you require them to be delivered by 10.30am on a Saturday morning, it will cost you an additional £60 for the service. A taxi would be cheaper. Surely this is just taking advantage of members? The trousers offered from within the range at £36 look shabby (industrial). Again, if you want those delivered to you on a Sunday, it will cost you £45 for the service, £9 more than the trousers sell for…I rest my case! Apparently, the number of umpires retiring is exceeding those being recruited. It stands to reason that we need to attract younger officials. Very few youngsters have funds to spend £299.00 (from) for the Complete Umpire’s Match Pack, or even the standard Match Pack from £199.00. If younger umpires are to be encouraged, these prices need looking at and possibly part-sponsored. May I ask about the royalties? Playing devil’s advocate, ECB ACO receives a royalty from Fearnley on whatever sales they achieve. Why is this necessary at all? Surely, if ECB ACO is promoting and encouraging all members to 'look the part', they should make the price of all merchandise as competitive as possible at the point of sale – not seek to make a profit out of it. Summing up, my major concerns regarding merchandise are as follows: • The prices are generally too high to sell to a guaranteed captive audience. • The quality is inconsistent. • The postage/delivery costs are outrageous and could potentially be construed as profiteering. • ECB ACO claiming royalties adds to already high prices and should be discontinued. Answered by Martin Gentle, ECB ACO Membership Services Manager Summarising the summary, there are three underlying threads to Brian’s letter: period of time, with 15 pairs returned through fading. These have been replaced with no charge as we want our customers to be happy with the products they have purchased. 1. Value for money 2. Delivery costs 3. ECB ACO royalty and whether there should be one. Regarding supporting new umpires, we do package together a Starter Pack at just £99 – perfect for the new umpire. Value for Money Fearnley is a commercial organisation and is entitled to make a fair profit margin, which is also in the interests of ECB ACO. We work closely with Fearnley on the purchasing of the items that go into the catalogue and I do not accept that they make excessive profits from the ECB ACO, as Brian infers by his comment. Brian fails to understand the economics of the ECB ACO shop – there are simply not enough umpires out there to offer a ‘stack’em high, sell’em cheap’ policy. As a consequence, our umpire clothing ranges are made especially for us in limited quantities across a range of sizes. The main umpiring clothing items are regularly updated to ensure that the best possible fabrics are used and are generally similar to the items supplied to the First Class umpires in terms of design and material, and are made in Turkey. We have sold over 1,000 of the shirts mentioned by Brian in the last 12 months and just two have been returned as faulty. We have also sold over 300 pairs of trousers over the same As a service to all our members and to encourage sales not only to umpires but scorers too, we now offer a wider range of items than previously. As a result, our sales have increased by over 20% since 2014. We couldn’t have achieved that increase without offering products that our members want and believe is value for money. Delivery Costs We have been working with Fearnley regarding their delivery charges and, as a result, we have negotiated a reduction in the standard delivery charge to just £3. The express delivery charges reflect the costs incurred for that level of service. ECB ACO Royalty This is a matter for the new Management Committee to consider when the Fearnley contract comes up for renewal in December 2020. The contract does provide c. £20,000 of financial support to the organisation, which would equate to an increase in membership fees of £2.50 if the current level of income is to be maintained. email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710 23