HAMPSHIRE ASSOCIATION OF CRICKET OFFICIALS
2009 Management Report
Membership
All members of the ECB Association of Cricket Officials (ECB ACO) who either live in Hampshire or live elsewhere and chose Hampshire as their county are entitled to become members of the Hampshire Association of Cricket Officials. The ECB ACO has various categories of membership, including ‘full membership’ (for ‘active’ members); ‘associate membership’ (for people no longer actively involved in umpiring or scoring or who have no active ECB ACO qualifications); and ‘junior membership’ (for those who are active officials and aged under 25). There are also membership categories for those living abroad. Associate members have no ECB ACO insurance and do not require CRB clearance. The ECB ACO insurance cover only applies to those active members in the 16-80 years age range.
As at late October 2009, Hampshire ACO membership stands at 241 but we are aware that a number of people have not renewed their ECB ACO membership and will, potentially, be deleted from ECB ACO membership.
The South Coast Panel of Cricket Umpires & Scorers; the Winchester & District ACU&S; the New Forest ACU&S; and the North Hants ACU&S have formally affiliated to the Hampshire ACO and, as provided for in the Association’s constitution (section 7.2), each nominated a person to represent their Association on the Hampshire ACO.
Committee Membership
It was agreed that a recognised scorer should be co-opted to the Committee and at the 24th March 2009 meeting Caroline Green agreed to become the scorer representative on your Committee.
It was agreed that the Committee did not need to appoint a Welfare Officer but that when the Committee needed expert advice on such matters the Chairman would invite the HCB Welfare Officer to attend Committee meetings.
Your Committee decided that the Hampshire ACO would formally delegate its’ responsibility for appointing officials to matches (currently rounds 1, 2, and 3 of the National Club Knockout and the Cockspur Twenty20 Cup County finals) to the South Coast Panel. It was agreed that people appointed through the South Coast Panel to such matches may be members of other ACOs but that, for 2009 at least, it would not be expected that the South Coast Panel would discriminate on this basis when making appointments.
Training 2008/2009
The Hampshire ACO ran a number of Level 1 training courses in 2009. Four such courses were scheduled for early 2009, one to be held on Tuesday evenings at the Rose Bowl, one on Thursday evenings at the Rose Bowl, one on Wednesday evenings at Langley Manor CC and one on Tuesday evenings at Brighton Hill College, Basingstoke. In the event, the course at Basingstoke had to be cancelled because of the poor health of the course leader.
Despite there being some teething problems with the teaching materials, the winter umpire training courses went well with a good pass rate for the Hampshire courses (of the 27 people who attended the Level 1 courses, 23 passed). The Hampshire ACO Education Officer will keep in touch with all Level 1 candidates with a view to encouraging these people to take Level 2 courses.
The ECB ACO Education Committee has agreed to review any candidates who fail a Level 1 course by five marks or less by way of an oral. A good performance at this oral could result in a candidate passing Level 1.
In addition, there were four Mini Courses, with a total of 47 attendees.
Two Hampshire ACO members attended the ECB ACO Level 2 courses arranged for the south-west region (at Dummer Cricket Centre and Bristol). The Level 2 graduates in Hampshire are currently being mentored.
There are currently two Level 2 scorers going through the Hampshire county assessment process after having completed the Level 2 course.
A number of mini courses were run before the start of the 2009 summer season for the Hampshire Cricket League (HCL), covering the basic Laws and HCL regulations.
It was agreed that as part of HACO fulfilling its duty of care, whilst young people (16 years old or younger) would be allowed to attend HACO-led training courses they would only be allowed to do so if they have a signed letter of consent from their parents.
At the request of the ECB ACO Young Officials Development Officer, the Hampshire ACO supplied contact details of two young officials (under 25 years old) currently within the Hampshire League set-up with a view to them being offered enhanced development opportunities.
It was agreed with the ECB ACO that people should not be awarded their umpire or scorer qualification certificates until such time as they can demonstrate that they have applied for their CRB clearance. It was also decided that there should not be any formal awarding ceremony by the Hampshire ACO for Level 1 qualification certificates but consideration will be given at a later date as to whether a formal awarding ceremony should be adopted for Level 2 certificates.
When attending Regional Level 2 training courses individuals are required to pay the £50 course fee and are then responsible for their own evening meal and travel costs. Given the relatively high cost of this to individuals, your Committee has agreed that the Hampshire ACO should be prepared to contribute to these expenses by way of travel expenses (25 pence per mile for car travel or the actual public transport costs) and an evening meal (maximum of £15).
Nationally, no scorer courses took place this year, though there was a correspondence course.
Ray Holyer was put forward as a Level 1 umpire tutor and Polly Rhodes as a Level 1 scorer tutor. The first ECB Tutors (Officials) have been signed off by the ECB, with twelve candidates being successfully accredited, including Ray Holyer. This qualification allows the recipient to lead Level 2 courses.
Training 2009/2010
The ECB has set a target of running 50 Level 1 umpire courses nationwide between September and December 2009 (with at least twelve people per course). It is also aiming to have four Level 2 umpire courses in each region (other than in Wales) over this coming winter. It is anticipated that there will be ten Level 1 umpire scorer courses in each region in 2010.
The ECB has set a target of running 25 Level 1 scorer courses nationwide between September and December 2009 (with at least six people per course), plus a Level 2 scorer course to be run between January and March 2010.
Umpire-training DVDs are being revised and a Level 1 scorers’ course DVD has recently been produced.
Within Hampshire, it is proposed (subject to demand) to organise four Level 1 umpire training courses in late 2009/early 2010, two at the Rose Bowl, one at Langley Manor and one at Brighton Hill Community College in Basingstoke. It is also hoped to organise a Level 1 umpire course over a weekend, rather than over a number of weeks. A Level 2 umpires course is scheduled for 6th and 13th March 2010 at Dummer. Consideration is also being given to the introduction of ‘Level 1 Trainers’ refresher days. A Level 2 scorers’ course has been booked at the Rose Bowl, on 16th January 2010 and 23rd January 2010.
It has been agreed that the Hampshire ACO will organise a form of refresher training for umpires ahead of the 2010 season, probably taking the form of a one-day seminar and possibly including a ‘How the Players See Us’ presentation. All Hampshire ACO members will be invited to attend (including scorers). It is hoped that this seminar will take place at the Rose Bowl.
Mentors
In order to help umpires through their early officiating, after attending a Level 2 umpire-training course candidates are now allocated a mentor (who cannot be the lead tutor on their course) who will arrange matches at which the mentor will conduct boundary assessments of that person’s performance. After this process, the candidate sits an examination. The process associated with umpire mentoring is considered to be working reasonably well. There are nine umpire mentors acting for Hampshire, which was sufficient for the 2009 season. A number of people are getting accredited as assessors and more assessors’ courses will be run during 2010.
The ECB ACO has agreed that umpire assessors should qualify for a £35 fee for each occasion that they undertake such an assessment (this would be in addition to any match fee or expenses that they receive if they are also standing in the match).
Hampshire ACO Website
Your Committee has decided that rather than having its own dedicated Hampshire ACO website, the Hampshire ACO should have a separate section within the Hampshire Cricket Board website - www.hampshirecb.com
The website includes pages for Officers and Committee members (including contact details); the Hampshire ACO Constitution; training course information (e.g. forthcoming course details; contact details; and a brief explanation of what each course entails); the latest Hampshire ACO AGM Minute and the latest Management Report. Members are invited to contact the Secretary, Graham Burgess, with any suggestions for other information that might usefully also be included on the website.
CRB Checks and Renewals
Members are reminded that, whilst the ECB ACO will normally contact members to remind them of the need to renew their CRB certificates, it is the responsibility of each individual member to ensure that he/she does applies for renewal in due time. In particular, if you change your address, be sure to let the ECB ACO know as any reminders about CRB certificates will go to the address that the ECB ACO holds for you.
Standards of Behaviour
The ECB ACO has indicated that the ECB is committed to the improvement in standards of behaviour in cricket. Assistance that is already in place includes:
- The standard of proof needed is based upon civil rather than criminal justice (this means that if a disciplinary committee is called the members do not have to prove beyond reasonable doubt but on the balance of probability).
- All bans of four weeks or more should be reported on the CBMS system with an e-mail to Head of Operations - Non First Class Cricket by a member of the County Cricket Board responsible for the club of the player in question.
New requirements for 2009 were:
- Supervision of the toss is to be carried out by all umpires operating in ECB matches, including Minor Counties, Premier League, National Knockout Cup, Cockspur Club T20 and County Age Group matches. Officials should use this opportunity to remind Captains of their responsibility under the Code of Conduct incorporating the Spirit of Cricket in the match.
- For the 2009 season the ECB requested that particular focus of attention was paid to:
a). On-field dissent, including equipment abuse (evidence of either triggering an obligatory disciplinary report).
b). Application of the Laws following the bowling of high full-pitch balls.
Discipline also formed part of the ECB coaching programme from September 2009.
If members have other issues (such as unacceptable coaching by team managers) that they consider need clarifying or enforcing, please contact the Secretary. Consideration will then be given as to whether, and how, to feed this information back to the ECB or other appropriate organisations.
Umpire Grading
The ECB ACO has introduced a structure to classify the recent experience of umpires across the country, ranging from A through D. The classifications are:
A. This umpire meets criteria B and has officiated in multiple-day cricket.
B. This umpire currently and successfully officiates ECB Premier Division matches (or designated equivalent) on a regular basis.
C. This umpire officiates in higher levels of feeder league cricket and the later stages of local competitions.
D. This umpire officiates in other grades of local cricket.
These classifications will be used by the ECB ACO to provide each of its members a grading to be published before the start of the 2010 season. Alongside each of the gradings that are assigned to individuals will be the matches to which they can expect to be appointed along with the criteria that will need to met to retain their current grading. Each grading is to be revised on an annual basis.
‘Tom Smith’s’
It is anticipated that a new edition of ‘Tom Smith’s’ will be available in the near future, though a date has not yet been fixed.
ECB ACO Board
Your Chairman, Tony Leadbetter was elected as the South & West Region ECB ACO Board member.
Members will also be aware that Steve Bennett (the FA and FIFA football referee) has been appointed as the Independent Sports Official on the ECB ACO Board.