Association of Cricket Officials Issue 32 | Page 3
2017 was the year that saw a new Code of Laws for the first time in nearly two decades.
2018 sees them in action, as well as the development of a new Tom Smith’s.
At a time when we know we need more umpires and scorers,
and we need to keep those we have officiating regularly,
this support is more important than ever – and if my own
experiences in the classroom and on the field this summer are
anything to go by, it is a role that ECB ACO is fulfilling.
Off the field, for me the start of this summer has been all about
the new 2017 Code of Laws and its introduction to cricket in the
northern hemisphere. There has been a whole heap of feedback
coming into us at MCC – which we welcome – and it has been
wonderful to see the new Laws being adopted so widely up and
down the country. We know there are some concerns, and we
are reviewing the Laws constantly, as we did throughout the
southern hemisphere summer, where they had to react fast and
implement the 2017 Code almost immediately.
As members of the umpiring and scoring community, you –
along with players and coaches across the country – are on the
frontline of experiencing these new Laws, so you don’t need me
to tell you about how they are bedding in. Many of you will have
helped keep players safe by removing dangerous bowlers. Some
of you, in professional cricket, have been using bat gauges to
ensure bats are within the limits. And some of you may even
have used Law 42 to help control player behaviour. I hope that,
now we are halfway through the season, you are becoming used
to them, comfortable with them, and thinking of them less as
the ‘new Laws’ and more as just the Laws!
Over(ton) and Out
This month we said goodbye to John Overton, National Growth
Executive, who moved into ECB’s Team England department.
In his time at ECB ACO, John led our Young Officials
programme to new heights by growing the number of 16–25
year olds who undertook various umpiring and scoring courses,
while continually developing and modernising the content to
engage this audience – particularly the Young Leaders course.
Continuing the Young Officials theme, John grew the amount
of appointments that we’re able to offer at a range of levels and
led several high quality Young Official conferences across the
country.
This summer has also been spent rewriting Tom Smith’s
Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, a sizeable task but an extremely
enjoyable one. We know how important ‘the bible’ is for umpires
and scorers around the world, and the number of enquiries
about a publication’s date reflect that. By the time you read
this, I am extremely hopeful that the full text will have been
rewritten. We are still working on the visual content (pictures
and videos for the electronic versions), and there will be some
time between the work being finished and it actually being
published – but we are making good progress. I am sure
everyone can appreciate that, for a piece of work like this,
on which so many of us will rely for years to come, it is more
important that it is right, than it is quick. That said, we – that is a
team of several writers, editors, umpires (both recreational and
professional) and scorers – are working as hard as we can to
bring it out as quickly as possible.
All that’s left to say is that I hope you enjoy
this issue of the magazine – it’s packed full
of great content, as ever – and that you keep
enjoying your cricket throughout this summer
and beyond.
John also led ACO’s South Asian engagement work, embedding
ACO in the ECB’s work programmes within this area. His
relationship building skills were crucial in ACO’s visibility at last
summer’s Women’s World Cup, where ACO had a presence at
each game. Finally, his work to ensure that this magazine was
filled to the brim with appropriate content and delivered to
your doorsteps cannot be underestimated.
Thank you John for your hard work and efforts to champion
the role of umpires and scorers across England and Wales,
and beyond.
Keep an eye out for John at the international games – he’s
likely to be in that ever-growing England pre-match huddle!
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