Association of Cricket Officials Issue 30 | Page 3

Officials – a player’s best friend. phenomenal effort that reflected great credit on the ACO and particularly the relationship between the Executives and the volunteers. I was privileged to attend some of these workshops and see first-hand the passion and knowledge of the presenters (Glyn Pearson and Rob Smith supported by Martin Gentle or Karen Cassidy), the commitment of the tutors and the consequent energy generated in the room. There will be some bumps along the road, but nothing that cannot be overcome and I am very confident in terms of the direction in which we are heading. Certainly, it is my hope that we will be running sufficient courses that will engage all our newly accredited (familiarised) tutors and this is somethi ng that we will be looking at as the training season gets underway in 2018. We should not lose sight of why we have done so much work and initiated so much change in respect of the introduction of the new portfolio and Stage One and Stage Two, particularly as it relates to recruitment. As has been discussed many times, the provision of education is our prime responsibility and because it is our stated aim to increase the recruitment of umpires (and as an organisation we will be partly judged and measured on how effective we are in achieving this), I hope that I can rely on your support to achieve this. We have also changed the link between education and accreditation, using as our guiding principle the fact that education is for all and accreditation is available for those that want it. Accreditation is therefore ‘split’ from education and related solely to observation of on-field performance with grading based entirely on the level of cricket officiated. I am delighted to report that the feedback from the ECB Competition Manager (and others) was that all our umpires performed splendidly in the ECB finals to which we appoint our ‘best’ umpires. While it has been said many times that we must not overemphasise the work done at the top end of the ACO (it is representing just a small percentage of members), nevertheless these are our ‘showcase’ appointments and it is important that the right umpires are properly considered and these appointments made fairly, equitably and on merit – and I am delighted to confirm that this is indeed the case. In addition, we made more appointments than ever before in our growth areas of Young Officials, Women and South Asian, and I would reference here the Bunbury Under-15 at Stowe and T20 Under-19 competition as a whole; the City Cup and the Under-17 Women’s County Cup and Regional League Finals; and the England Women’s Development Festival at Loughborough. Again, the feedback has been universally positive with grateful thanks expressed on numerous occasions for our input. You will know that the booklet Creating an Outstanding Game Day Experience – Promoting Positive Player Behaviour was distributed with the last magazine. The feedback has been immensely positive, but consistently accompanied by requests for more copies for clubs and leagues so that the players can also read and understand what is meant by ‘Positive Player Behaviour’. Your message has been heard and work is continuing in respect of season 2018 to ensure that the new Laws (particularly as they relate to indiscipline and Spirit of Cricket) are known and understood across the game as a whole. It remains for me to wish you all the compliments of the season and trust that you will enjoy a happy Christmas and a successful new year and 2018 season. email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710 3