New Recruit at ICC Europe
Esther de Lange is the latest addition to the ICC Europe team, having recently taken up the role of Development Officer.
ICC Europe – An Update from the Eighth Region
As the leading association within Europe, the ECB ACO has led the way in developing education and resources to support the development of cricket officials. Over the years, more and more European officials and national governing bodies have found the ECB ACO willing to support, and after discussions between Nick Cousins( Head of ECB ACO) and Ed Shuttleworth( ICC Development Manager Europe), ICC Europe is now regarded as the eighth region of the ECB ACO. This step has been welcomed by the European governing bodies with much enthusiasm, as the development and support of cricket officials is high on everyone’ s agenda. The partnership means that ICC Europe now officially has full access to the educational resources of the ECB ACO and will be represented on all of its committees.
This is an exciting step towards countries becoming more self-sufficient in their cricket development with knowledgeable and dedicated volunteers being supported by ECB ACO. ICC Europe has appointed former KNCB Development Officer and captain of the Netherlands women ' s team, Esther de Lange, as the Regional Manager ACO( ICC Europe). Working alongside Esther will be two volunteer European representatives, who have been appointed onto the relevant ECB ACO committees. George Burns, based in Edinburgh, will sit on the ECB ACO Scorer Sub-Committee. Ray Holyer will represent ICC Europe on the Umpire Education and ACO Performance and Development committees. They will be available to support European members in the development of umpire and scorer tutors, and will liaise with European members to assign tutors to courses. Both offer a wealth of experience and are keen to support the development of cricket officials in Europe.
Having held the same role in the Netherlands for the past two years, Esther is a Level 3 coach and has been very successful in growing the grass-roots game, especially among girls. In moving to this role she has given up the captaincy of the national side. Making her debut in 2005, Esther has played 122 times for the Netherlands, and with 132 wickets, she is the country’ s leading international wicket-taker.
Esther will take up the ICC Europe position on the ACO Management Committee. We wish her all the best in her new role.
Esther de Lange, ICC Europe’ s new Development Officer, appeals while in action for The Netherlands v Pakistan.
© ICC
George Burns
The ICC has recently unveiled ambitious plans to grow the game of cricket globally among new audiences and in countries where cricket is not one of the established sports. Part of the ICC strategy in the years to come is to grow the number and quality of cricket officials in the smaller countries. To achieve this, the support of Full Member boards like the ECB will be crucial. The partnership with ECB ACO enables the ICC office in Europe to provide access to quality official education and the creation of a network of cricket officials across Europe who will be updated with the latest developments coming out of the ECB.
European Countries Fight for a Spot on the Global Stage
It’ s a busy summer for the national teams across Europe, with regional qualifying events taking place for men’ s, women’ s and men’ s Under 19s. In June, the WCL Qualifier – Europe Division 1 took place in the Netherlands. Six countries competed, with Germany leading the pack. The German success has earned them a trip to South Africa where they will take part in World Cricket League 5, the first step on a long ladder towards World Cup qualification. July saw four countries competing for a spot in the Under 19s World Cup in 2018. Jersey hosted Denmark,
Scotland and Ireland. This tournament gave us a first glimpse of what the future has in store in the top cricket-playing countries in Europe, outside England. In August, the attention shifts to the women for the Europe / Americas T20 Regional WC Qualifier. Three countries will meet in Scotland for a double round robin on the fields of Stirling CC. Scotland, The Netherlands and USA will compete for a place in the Global T20 World Cup Qualifier which will take place this coming winter.
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