TEAM SHEET
Pre-season: Matters Arising
A busy couple of months off the pitch…
ECB ACO Board
Roger Knight – Chairman
Tony Hemmings – Deputy Chairman
Sid Poole – London and East
Peter Mitchell – Midlands
Philip Radcliffe – North
Les Clemenson – South and West
Steve Davies – Wales
Nick Pink – ICC Europe
Nick Cousins – Head of ECB ACO
Gordon Hollins – ECB Chief Operating
Officer
Chris Kelly – ECB Umpires’ Manager
Fraser Stewart – MCC Cricket
Academy Manager
ECB ACO Executive
Nick Cousins – Head of ECB ACO
Ben Francis – Finance and Project
Manager
Maria Rashid – Executive
Administrator
Glyn Pearson – Education Manager
John Overton – Project Officer
Martin Gentle – Membership Services
Manager
Karen Cassidy – Membership Services
Officer
Phone – 0121 446 2710
Email – [email protected]
ACO Board Subcommittees
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
Magazine Editor
Ben Francis
[email protected]
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It has been a very busy couple of
months with the training season in full
swing and the Membership Services
team at full pelt. Aside from managing
the usual courses and activities that
characterise the pre-season months,
and noting any interesting events that
occur in the international cricket being
played (notably the much publicised
‘mankading’ incident in the Under 19
World Cup), we have also been
preoccupied with two matters that will
impact on all officials, whether newly
qualified or experienced campaigners.
Firstly, dealing with issues surrounding
ground, weather and light necessitated
by the judgement following our
successful defence of two umpires
scandalously accused of negligence in
a Birmingham County Court case.
Secondly, supporting MCC in their
attempt to deal with increased levels
of indiscipline, particularly acts of
violent misconduct.
Regarding ground, weather and light,
following receipt of the written
judgment of His Honour Judge Lopez at
the conclusion of the case brought in
the Birmingham County Court, Bartlett
versus ECB ACO, a task force was set up
to consider the ruling in detail. Although
the case was won and all significant
costs borne by the plaintiff, Judge
Lopez took the opportunity to add a
very well researched and documented
case study to English law by producing
a long and complex judgement that
took account of all aspects of this case,
and, more importantly, laid down specific
guidance for reference, should further
cases of this nature come to court.
After much detailed discussion, the
outcome was that a task force be
appointed that met, discussed in detail,
and then made the following main
recommendations to the Board. First:
detailed guidance for umpires on
managing ground, weather and light
issues should be put into a booklet form
and sent directly to all members of ECB
ACO. Second: summary guidance (in
nine bullet points) should be put into
‘ECB Directive card form’ and also sent
directly to all members of ECB ACO.
Third: a new ‘stand-alone’ (vox pop)
presentation should be created for
inclusion in all Level 1 courses runs by
ECB ACO. Fourth: the summary
guidance should be turned into a poster
form and sent to all clubs as part of the
‘Get the Game On’ campaign, to ensure
the message is understood by all. The
detailed ECB ACO Guidance and the
short ECB ACO Guide capture the
lessons to be learnt from this case, and
the presentation offers best practice
advice to new umpires (and indeed to
those more experienced).
All recommendations were accepted by
the Board, and, as a consequence, you
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will find the two guidance documents
included with this magazine, as well as a
more detailed exposition about the case
and the outcome included in later pages.
Let us hope for a summer of sunshine
and decent weather such that these
guidance notes do not have to be used
too often – well we can hope!
Managing player indiscipline more
effectively has been a subject much
discussed in these pages recently, and
was the key topic at all meetings
initiated by ACO Regional Chairmen as
a response to the MCC’s request to us
for consultation prior to their redraft of
the Laws in 2017. Following this
consultation, and on receipt of
information from other umpire
associations around the world, MCC has
decided that decisive action needs to
be taken and is launching a trial that
will, in effect, bring red or yellow cards
to club, university and schools cricket in
an attempt to stamp out excessive
sledging and curb the increase of
violent behaviour.
The global consultation showed clearly
that the majority of umpires felt they
would be able to manage player
behaviour more effectively if they had
more authority to deal with the situation
at the time, rather than just through a
post-match reporting procedure.
Another obvious advantage of an ‘at
the time’ sanction is that the offence
has an immediate consequence in the
particular game, as well as any
longer-term suspension.
Lest you think this is something of a
sledgehammer to crack a nut, may I
remind you that at least five matches in
England were abandoned last year due
to varying