The Bristol ACU & S celebrates its 125th birthday this year. As far as we know, we are the oldest association of cricket officials and, we believe, the second oldest sport’ s officials’ body anywhere in the world.
In preparing to write this article, I began to think about the challenges of getting to a game in 1892. In the late 19th century I presume some people would travel to a game by horse and / or carriage. So, whereas today we mark teams and clubs on their hospitality, thinking of tea and beer, perhaps then, looking after the animals was more of a key issue. Was there sufficient hay / oats for the horses? Were there tethering posts or even stables in the grounds? Could this be how players or spectators rated their day? I know before we existed, it was customary to‘ pick up’ an umpire on the day. Odd to consider how this term would have a different interpretation nowadays. The Western Daily Press in June of 1892 remarked that our providing of umpires was important as‘ the picking up of an umpire on the field is far from satisfactory to either side’.
From quite small beginnings the association began to flourish, and by 1913 there were 69 members. We made 800 appointments to clubs within a 12-mile radius of Bristol. Most of the umpires would be happy today to only be travelling this far, but, back then, a journey of this distance was a major consideration for the appointments team. The tram, train and bicycle were all being employed if the distance to the ground was too far to walk, but even then, the umpires had their travel expenses reimbursed. Late cancellations were a major challenge neatly solved by the use of telegrams – for younger readers these were the equivalent of text messages – short, poorly worded, full of unfathomable abbreviations( you paid by the word!) but delivered by a boy on a bicycle!
After the First World War, Bristol quickly resumed making a similar number of appointments and by 1921 had begun a relationship, that exists until today, with Gloucestershire CCC, to supply umpires to its pre-season friendlies( we do it in conjunction with Gloucestershire ACO nowadays).
In 1921 we began formally examining potential umpires, with successful candidates being awarded a badge. Records would suggest these examinations were a question and answer session held by the examinations sub-committee.
The work of the association continued throughout the Second World War and in the season of 1946, we made over 1000 appointments. By then many more homes had telephones, making it far easier to notify cancellations. Wider car ownership began to make it possible for umpires to attend grounds further afield, although the first reference to a mileage allowance is not made until 1963, when it was 6d( 2.5p) per mile.
It may seem strange, but even into the 1950s, Bristol was unique, being the only organisation in the country appointing neutral umpires to games. This model was widely admired and soon imitated.
In 1958 we began offering formal training sessions with‘ coaching classes’ and composed our own standard set of examination questions. This system was still in operation as we moved into the new millennium, until 2009 when we adopted the standardised ACO approach. Scorers’ courses have also been a feature of our training programme, and by 2001 we had 30 scorer members, a number that has dropped to around 20 today.
Over the years, the introduction and evolution of league and cup cricket has required a lot of changes. For many years we opposed the idea of‘ competitive cricket’ – perhaps, given our records show that since the 1970s the incidence of abuse and foul language has been a regular issue we have had to deal with, we may have been right to do so! However, from 1971 we have provided umpires to a variety of local league structures which have evolved into today’ s West of England Premier League and the Bristol and District League. These are in a single pyramid comprising 21 divisions from top to bottom. We also continue to look after the needs of three local universities, 15 schools, two youth leagues, two local cups, plus our share of the ECB club and county age group matches.
Echoing through our history is the plaintiff cry of the appointments team about the amount of work and time needed, plus the never-ending challenge of there not being enough umpires.( And, from our members, concern whether the games they have been assigned to are appropriate!) We began experimenting with online appointing in 2009, using a system provided by a USA-based company adapted for our needs. They closed down shortly afterwards! This led us to find and adapt Who’ s The Umpire( WTU) and we have been using it ever since. Although I am sure people still find parts of WTU troublesome to use, everyone owes the Bristol umpires a big thank you. I remember the first months’ worth of appointments, when the calendar did not work well and everyone was struggling to understand how the system worked. There was a lot of tension and frustration. Nowadays, the association uses WTU for everything and we typically make 1500 appointments per annum.
The association is, of course, all about its members. Today we have 120 of whom 80 are active umpires accepting six or more appointments per annum. We also have 20 scorers. Bristol umpires have been appointed to every major ECB competition final, to the MCCA and‘ D’ Lists, and our minutes even record the remarks of the West Indies captain in 1923 when, after their friendly with Gloucestershire, he said the umpiring standards compared favourably with those of First Class professionals. We would hope for the same remark today, although some of our league’ s captains are not always as complimentary!
In the new world of the ACO, people may question whether there is a role for the association. Bristol is a big city, with a county border running through the middle of it. We operate in a league structure that covers three counties over a huge geographic area. BACUS has helped to create a working structure, with the three county ACOs, that brings the best of the ACO’ s national policies into play, with an awareness of the specific needs of the local community. This has been achieved through openness, co-operation and recognising that our collective role is to provide the officials the sport requires. The Bristol committee is very conscious of the association’ s history and its reputation for leadership and innovation, and remains convinced it will have a major role to play to help ensure the game flourishes locally.
To celebrate our 125th year, we will be visiting Lord’ s for a tour and are hoping to get a members’ event organised at the CCC. We will also hold our 30th annual dinner post-season.
Bristol ACU & S
email us at ecb. aco @ ecb. co. uk contact us on 0121 446 2710 27