Association of Cricket Officials Issue 32 | Page 2
TEAM SHEET
ACO Management Committee
Vacant – Chairman
Vacant – Deputy Chairman
David Bird – West Midlands
Raj Patel – South Central
Les Clemenson – South West and Wales
Peter Hinstridge – East
Peter McKenzie – East Midlands
Sid Poole – London
Philip Radcliffe – North
Esther de Lange – ICC Europe
Nick Cousins – Head of ECB ACO
Bruce Cruse – Head of Participation
Chris Kelly – ECB Umpires’ Manager
Fraser Stewart – MCC
Sue Jones – National Scorers’ Officer
ECB ACO Executive
Nick Cousins – Head of ECB ACO
Glyn Pearson – Education Manager
Hamish Grant – Finance, Administration and Projects Officer
Ben Francis – Customer Marketing Manager (ACO)
Martin Gentle – Membership Services Manager
Karen Cassidy – Membership Services Officer
Phone – 0121 446 2710
Email – [email protected]
ACO Management Sub-Committees
Education
Scorers
Performance and Development
Appointments and Grading
Addresses
ECB Membership Services Office
Warwickshire CC Ground
Edgbaston
Birmingham B5 7QX
ECB ACO
Lord’s Cricket Ground
London NW8 8QZ
The Cricket Umpires and Scorers Trust
(Available to ECB ACO and members of the
former ACU&S)
Enquiries/requests should be addressed to:
The Chairman
The Cricket Umpires and Scorers Trust
c/o JF Rushton
77 Moatbrook Avenue
Codsall
Wolverhampton
West Midlands WV8 1DJ
Or, email [email protected]
The trustees cannot guarantee to meet every request, but
each will be given due consideration.
Magazine Editor
Hamish Grant
[email protected]
Photography © ECB ACO, MCC or Getty Images unless
otherwise stated.
Front cover photo © Matt Bright
Designed and produced by Coachwise Creative.
93052
2
Building On
a Decorated
Decade
For those of you who were unaware, 2018
is the 10-year anniversary for ECB ACO. In
light of this, and in keeping with many other
popular publications, we have decided to
have a series of guest editorials. In this issue,
Jonny Singer (MCC Laws of Cricket Advisor)
gives us his take on the season so far, on and
off the field.
When ECB ACO asked me to guest edit their magazine, I
wasn’t quite sure what I’d say in this editorial. I have edited
several publications in my time, umpired cricket, and written
for this very magazine, but I never expected to combine those
disciplines in the form of this piece.
But it occurs to me that, as umpires and scorers, we are all, at
times, playing the role of guest editor; the venue, for the most
part, is not our home ground, yet we are in control of what
happens within the confines of it; we provide very little of the
content of the game, but in our own way we define the shape
of it and make sure it is appropriate in content and length; and,
from time to time, people assume that we do very little, not
knowing that without an editor or an umpire/scorer, magazines
and games of cricket rarely go smoothly.
Before you get into the meat of this issue, then, let me briefly
introduce myself. As MCC’s Laws of Cricket Advisor for the last
year, I have been brought into the heart of ECB ACO – sitting
on the Management Committee, working occasionally with the
Education Sub-Committee and, from time to time, enjoying
engaging conversations with umpires and scorers from around
the country (and beyond – hello Belgium!) In this capacity you
may remember me from classic episodes such as ‘I can’t log in
to the eLearning’, ‘I have an enquiry about an obscure incident
that happened last Saturday’ and, my personal favourite, ‘I wish
to write to MCC to tell them what a mess they’ve made of Law
41.7’.
Starting off at MCC I felt, at times, that I had jumped in at
the deep end – not least at my first ECB ACO meeting up
at Edgbaston, for which I think it is fair to say I was pretty
unprepared. But, as is the way with cricket officials, the
community – and that day, the Sub-Committee – made me feel
welcome, helped teach me the basics, and, over time, gave me
the tools to, I hope, contribute.
So it is – and must be – with umpiring and scoring. What ECB
ACO has moved towards in the new Stage One and Stage Two
courses is less rote learning, and more facilitation. New umpires
are given the tools to do their job, but also empowered to
learn for themselves (I have recently completed the Stage One
and Two courses). At MCC we spent a great deal of time and
effort producing what I believe to be an excellent eLearning
programme – and it’s a real source of pride to us when ECB
ACO members, and their counterparts around the world, tell us
not just that they enjoyed it, but that it helped them learn the
Laws. We love being a part of that process, but the role played
by the ECB ACO – through their full-time staff and educational
coordinators, but more importantly through you, the members –
is vital. Learning to umpire is more than just knowing the Laws –
it’s about craft and self-improvement, and that is made possible
when you are part of a community, and an environment, that
helps you thrive.
email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710