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