Association of Cricket Officials | Page 15

unreasonable to sanction play because of the state of the outfield.’ 6. 7. As a result, the judgement concludes that ECB ACO was not in breach of the duty of care owed to the plaintiff and the other players. player or club official, the qualified umpire should take responsibility for deciding all ground, weather and light (GW&L) issues, while listening to the views of others. 4. The judgement went on to find that, on the balance of probabilities, the use of the wrong technique in executing the sliding stop caused the injury sustained by the plaintiff. Conclusions of ECB ACO’s Task Force on Ground, Weather and Light The task force was convened and chaired by me and included Les Clemenson (Board and ACO tutor), Hugh Chapman (former lawyer and ACO tutor) and Mark Williams (MCC Laws Advisor and ACO tutor). The task force also took advice and guidance from Peter Robinson (ECB ACO video and DVD facilitator and ACO tutor), Chris Kelly (First Class Umpires’ Manager), Chris Walsh and Richard Bush (solicitors with Onside Law [ECB lawyers]) and Tony Marks (ECB ACO insurance broker, Kerry, London). It is important for the umpires to be thoroughly prepared in advance to deal with issues of GW&L, and to have formed working relationships with those responsible for the ground, the captains and the home club. Where conditions are, or become, unsafe, the umpires need to be proactive in encouraging steps to be taken as promptly and effectively as possible to remediate unsafe areas and eliminate the dangers. 5. In determining whether play can proceed, regard must be had to the factors involved in assessing conditions and the procedures to be followed in doing this, and umpires must keep careful records (for details, see the detailed ECB ACO Guidance). 6. The lightning protocol set out at the end of ECB ACO’s detailed Guidance should be carefully followed. It drew the following conclusions: Final Thoughts 1. Judge Lopez was excellent. He was not a cricketer but had done his homework in an exemplary fashion. He had sent for all relevant ECB ACO paperwork and mastered the detail in his research. 2. 3. The duty of care owed by umpires cannot be transferred to or assumed by others, for example, in a situation where the umpires consider the conditions are dangerous but the players want to play. At present, many umpires interpret Law 3.9 as requiring both umpires to agree to suspend play if play is underway and both umpires to agree to start or resume play if the players are off the field. The result of that interpretation is that play could continue if underway in circumstances where only one of the umpires viewed the conditions as dangerous. That interpretation cannot go on being used. It turns the umpire who viewed the conditions as dangerous as the plaintiff’s star witness in the event of any weather-related injury. From now on there must be no play where either of the umpires view conditions as dangerous or unreasonable. That said, both umpires must make every effort to reach agreement, and where they do not do so immediately, both umpires must identify the precise conditions that cause their difference of opinion and discuss and seek to agree a resolution, including what remedies are available. If there is only one qualified umpire (ie full current ECB ACO active member) at the game and the other end is being handled by a Similarly, we were also very well served by the lawyers appointed by our brokers – namely our solicitor, Richard Wetherell, and our barrister, Gareth Crompton. Both were excellent in providing advice and guidance to all parties throughout the case, but particularly to me. Cookie Patel was our expert witness on fielding techniques and he too provided great support and understanding. You will have noted that I have not named the umpires at any stage. This is not because I do not want them to be acknowledged personally, but because they do not want it. They regard themselves as two umpires (like any other) who carried out their duties on the day, following practice learned in their education and training, and carried out to the best of their abilities. identifying and then seeking to solve problem areas revealed by their inspections. The judgement included the following ringing en ܜ