Tommy Wilson – 80 Not Out
Having only recently retired from umpiring after more than half a century of active service, this year sees Tommy Wilson celebrate his 80th birthday.
Due to a severe physical disability, Tommy was unable to partake in any sport, so became scorer for his village team aged 14. Two years later an umpiring shortage saw him begin his illustrious career in the Southport and District Cricket League. In 1968 he umpired his first county Second XI game for Lancashire, before joining the Minor Counties List a year later. In 1976, Tom was appointed as a reserve First Class umpire, where, instead of his first allotted game being at Oxford University, a last-minute illness to umpire David Evans saw him thrown into the cauldron of a Roses match – Yorkshire versus Lancashire at Headingley, in the full glare of the television cameras. Promotion to the First Class Umpire’ s List came in 1978 for 12 months, alongside his minor counties namesake Roddy Wilson. Umpiring 15 championship matches and 10 John Player League games, the following year saw him remain‘ on call’ to the Test and County Cricket Board.
Umpiring at minor counties level for 34 years, the first of his three championship finals came at Worcester in 1985 as Cheshire comfortably beat Suffolk. He was also selected to officiate at three one-day finals and three representative games when the Minor Counties Cricket Association( MCCA) took on visiting touring teams – Zimbabwe in 1985, New Zealand the following year, and the West Indies in 1991. Seven years later, in the quarter-final of the MCC Trophy at Wellington, Tom and the present writer had the somewhat dubious honour of introducing the Duckworth Lewis method into minor counties cricket.
For 36 years, Tom ran the local general store in his home village. Married for more than half a century to Barbara, and with two grown-up daughters, he has served his local community as a parish councillor and school governor, while also being Treasurer, Chairman and now Honorary Life Member of Bretherton Cricket Club. Currently Chairman of the Northern Premier Cricket League Umpires’ Federation, he was formerly Chairman and President of the Southport and District Amateur Cricket League. He remains a Life Vice-President.
Having served as Chairman of the Minor Counties Umpires Federation since its inception some 30 years ago, in 2012, the MCCA elected him a Life Member. For many years a senior instructor for the Association of Cricket Umpires( ACU) and Scorers( S), and invited to become a member of Frank Kemp’ s steering group, he helped bring ACU and S and the ECB together to form ECB ACO. A Life Vice-President of the Lancashire Cricket Board, he was recently elected President of the Lancashire Cricket Board Association of Cricket Officials.
Having received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Sports Officials UK( SOUK) at a glittering ceremony in Malvern in 2015, that same year also saw the publication of Douglas Miller’ s biography fittingly entitled, There Is Only One Tommy Wilson. As it outlines in detail, for one born on 5 November and whose middle name is Guy, Tom has never been very far from the fireworks throughout his career. Totally fearless in upholding what he regards as the highest standards of the game, long may he continue to do so.
Kenneth Shenton
Step by Step – A Journey Along the Scorer’ s Pathway
Scoring Experiences for Gloucestershire Second XI and DLS Match Manager for England / Ireland ODI
I started scoring for Biddestone CC in 2011( West of England Premier League), completed my Level 3 assessment at the end of the 2016 season and have scored several one- and three-day games for Gloucestershire Second XI since then, as well as an Under 19 ODI. In May 2017, I was appointed as the DLS Match Manager( DLSMM) for the England-Ireland ODI at Bristol.
I’ ve found scoring for Gloucestershire Second XI a very enjoyable experience, although I have to admit the first few games were a bit nerve-wracking! Having learnt to relax while doing these games, I now find that scoring a three-day championship is a nice break from my day job! There is inevitably more pressure which comes with these games, but the pace does tend to be slower than Saturday league cricket, so you can take your time and nothing needs to be rushed. Player recognition is the biggest difference – you need to be proactive when you arrive at the ground and learn who your players are, as well as partaking in research and preparation before the match.
The experience of being a DLSMM was a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone given the opportunity. I loved being part of a full international for the first time and it was a huge thrill to go into the players’ dressing rooms and speak to a couple of players – even if they were not in the least bit interested in the DLS calculations given the fine weather! My role that day consisted of a simple calculation at the end of the Ireland innings and then dashing around distributing copies of the par scores table to the match referee, dressing rooms, scoreboard operator and the media. I can imagine on wet days there would be a lot more pressure and multiple checks of calculations!
Kevin Mitchell
28 email us at ecb. aco @ ecb. co. uk contact us on 0121 446 2710