I would like to begin with one of many huge votes of thanks. Well done to all the folk involved in not only making the 2018 scorer roadshows happen, but also in making them such a massive success. Without exception, the events were oversubscribed and extremely well received across all our regions.

Scorers everywhere are getting to grips with Play-Cricket Scorer Pro. We have been fortunate in having a very dedicated team of volunteer testers from the Scorer Sub-Committee( SSC) and some other knowledgeable ACO members, who for a number of months have worked tirelessly and very closely with the ECB IT production team, plus the parent company in New Zealand. We cannot thank them enough for the amount of hours put in when checking each update roll-out and also being involved with web / conference calls at some incredibly early hours, due to the time difference with New Zealand.

Much progress has been made on the scorer pathway regarding information about observations and assessments. A great deal of work has been done by the Education and Accreditation team led by Sue Drinkwater( Scorer Education Manager) in getting all the paperwork in perfect order and on to Who’ s the Umpire( WTU) for access by tutors, Regional Scorer Officers( RSOs) and County Scorer Officers( CSOs). It is important to remember to do your self-observations and add them to your portfolio. Assessors are not trying to catch anybody out when they do their job; they are looking for how a candidate has improved and how they might be helped with further workshops, courses and mentoring.

Our Young Officials scorers have made another excellent start in 2018. Those who were part of the team for the early season corporate event at Lord’ s were complimented on their attitude and abilities by management and players alike. Thanks also to the mentors, whose main task of the day was making sure there were enough spare balls – due to all the big hitting former pros and short boundaries!

Finally, I have made the decision to stand down and retire at the end of this season – the ECB ACO National Conference in October will be my last official event. This decision is mainly due to personal circumstances; however, I do honestly believe that a new National Scorers’ Officer( NSO), with a fresh approach, can only be good for our scorer members.

I have very much enjoyed the last three years and am glad to have contributed towards elevating the recognition of recreational scorers, plus awareness of the amount we contribute to the game of cricket. In particular, I am pleased with my part to play in the extra exposure we now get in the magazine.( Rumour has it that the FAQs are enjoyed and eagerly awaited by umpires as much as us –‘ result’!) That’ s so good to hear, another thing that brings us all closer under the officials’ umbrella!

Keep the questions coming in. No matter how trivial you may think they are, someone out there may be querying the same thing and be too shy to ask. A huge thank you to everyone who has given me such great support, especially colleagues on the proactive SSC. I am truly grateful.( I would not have managed without you – you know who you are!)

Sue Jones National Scorers’ Officer

Let’ s Get Quizzical – The Answers!

The answer to the question from Only Connect was, of course, they are all umpire signals!

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