AUTUMN 2020 NEWSLETTER of WALES ACO
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AUTUMN 2020 NEWSLETTER of WALES ACO Welcome to the AUTUMN Newsletter from WALES ACO-keeping you informed of developments in the UMPIRING and SCORING World around WALES. 2020 THE SEASON THAT NEARLY WASN’T Well we finally got there after months of fretting that there wouldn’t be any cricket in 2020, in late July we were given the go ahead to start the 2020 season. Full credit must go to CRICKET WALES for their behind the scenes efforts in persuading the politicians that CRICKET was safe to return. We saw a number of protocols put in place e.g. running lanes, hand sanitising and limiting the number of people in the playing “bubble” First out of the blocks were GUERNSEY and former WALES ACO and VALE CRICKET CLUB member CARL BROOKS officiated in the first game. Carl has kindly penned and article for us which you can find later in this NEWSLETTER. We thank Carl and send our best wishes to him and all our friends and colleagues involved in Cricket in Guernsey The Leagues were condensed into smaller groups or “Clusters” to add a competitive edge. The response of scorers and umpires was remarkable with excellent availability. It has to be understood that a few of our members, quite rightly, decided that it wasn’t appropriate for them to officiate and this is fully understood and appreciated, who hope to see them all back fit and well for the 2021 season. One disappointment was that the North Wales League decided not to have appointed Umpires which, although a good number of Umpires found games, didn’t help in the attracting of new Umpires. We also saw International Cricket return with the advent of two “home” umpires for the first time since the introduction of the International Panel. Below is an article from The Cricketer Magazine with some interesting information on that subject. WALES ACO in conjunction with ECB ACO have facilitated a number of introductory “BASICS of UMPIRING and SCORING” courses which have been very successful and further courses are planned throughout the winter. Details will be circulated when available. Well done to everyone and stay safe over the winter. COLOURED KIT or a COLOUR CLASH. With the 2020 season seeing the introduction of coloured kit in the SEW Premier League and the likelihood that other leagues will follow, the question is raised of Umpires kit. In most cases in the PL Umpires have worn coloured kit, which certainly in a game I umpired, with the fielding side also wearing navy tops, raised the question of the Umpire being mistaken for a fielder. It would be good to raise a discussion of whether Umpires wear coloured kit or remain in white which is easily distinguishable against all varieties of coloured kit. 2020 Honours Board SOUTH WALES PREMIER LEAGUE St. FAGANS. S.W.C.A K.O.CUP SWANSEA S.W.C.A. INTERMEDIATE CUP MUMBLES “A” S.E.W.C.L. GROUP 1-2 MALPAS 3-4 TONDU 5-6 PONT/KEYS or CRUMLIN 7-8 LISVANE 2s 9-10 CROESY or MACHEN 11-12 UPPER RHONDDA 13-14 LLANTWIT FADRE 15-16 PONTHIR or PONT/KEYS 17-18 CROESYCEILIOG 3s N.B. Where there is an either or the game was cancelled due to the COVID 19 restriction in place in CAERPHILLY COUNTY BOROUGH. HARRISON ALLEN NEYLAND ALEC COLLEY CAREW ALAN BROWN LLANRHIAN ORMOND YOUTH CUP CRESSELLY ORMOND YOUTH PLATE WHITLAND S.E. WALES MACEY CUP GLAMORGAN ZONE BRIDGEND GWENT NEWBRIDGE PLATE-GLAMORGAN ZONE LLANDAFF GWENT ZONE SUDBROOK GOUGH MEDICINE. The unusual circumstances we are living in resulted in local match officials being used for the international matches in England. Chris Broad became the first man to be a match referee when his son took his 500th Test wicket. The umpires used were the first pair of English umpires to stand in a Test in England since 1993. Of these Michael Gough made a particularly good impression during the West Indies series. This is not merely an impression as he is also statistically remarkable. With the advent of DRS, we now have some form of measure of umpiring competency. Roughly a quarter of all reviews see the on-field decision being overturned. At the end of the series Gough had a record of only 15.58 per cent of the 77 reviews of his decisions in Test cricket being over- turned. The next best umpires are all over 23 per cent. Umpire Reviews Over-turned % M A Gough 77 12 15.58 R J Tucker 190 44 23.15 I J Gould 191 45 23.56 R A Kettleborough 254 60 23.62 Asad Rauf 76 18 23.68 B N J Oxenford 247 60 24.29 H D P K Dharmasena 226 55 24.33 B F Bowden 115 28 24.34 Aleem Dar 297 75 25.25 S J Davis 101 26 25.74 Article in The Cricketer SUMMER 2020. Subscribe the Cricketer at shop.the cricketer.com/subscriptions Follow us Join us TALES from the SCOREBOX. The Scorers have been busy during lockdown and the mini-season and have now agreed a payment structure with CRICKET WALES at £20 +45p per mile travelled, when scoring for CRICKET WALES age groups including the girls and Women’s games. Scorers will need to meet the following criteria to qualify for payment: Member of the ECBACO Minimum of Level 1 accredited Current holder of a DBS Score using both PCS Pro and supporting manual book or Linear Administration duties on the Cricket Wales Play-cricket website Like the umpires we are looking at a structure where scorers will be allocated to for all Cricket Wales games and notified before the date of the fixtures. To ensure that everyone who is working through the ECBACO scorer’s pathway have the opportunity to get the necessary experience at that level. Glamorgan Scorers Pathway With the Cricket Wales pathway in place we are looking to introduce scorers to the Glamorgan scoring panel. The current scorer’s panel who are managed by Andrew Hignell are: Glamorgan 1st- Andrew Hignell Glamorgan 2nds- Bryon Jones, Ben Davies & Kevin Probert Glamorgan Score board operator- Robin Eyles Support Glamorgan Scorers- Mike Wanklin The Glamorgan scorer’s pathway would have the same criteria as the Cricket Wales but scorers would need to be working towards their level 2 accreditation. There are three stages: 1. Be nominated by the County Scoring Officers to WACO management committee for consideration 2. Invitation to a Match day scorebox observation 3. Invitation to operate the scoreboard under supervision of Robin. Andrew Hignell will always give his feedback at each stage if successful a plan will be put place to introduce the scorer to the panel In addition, Wales ACO scorers had the best turnout for training course during the 2019 winter break. In total we have 37 attendees to the various courses booked. We had 15 new scorers participate in the club scorers’ course with 6 of those under the age of 16. Can we congratulate Thelma on successfully gaining her level 3 accreditation on the same note Hilary Brown and Ben Davies successfully gained their level 2 accreditation A Strange but Exciting Summer by ANNA HARRIS-WALES ACO Executive Member. With the Covid Pandemic casting a doubtful shadow over the 2020 season I think it’s safe to say we are all pleased to see whatever cricket can be mustered. The shortened season has brought good opportunities for Female Umpires as the ECB created the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy (RHFT) in light of the cancellation of the Hundred launch. Myself and 9 other women were selected to officiate the RHFT and were engaged to stand with First-Class Colleagues and umpire the highest level of Domestic Cricket available in the UK this year. I would like to pass my thanks on to Wales ACO for their support, as well as Wyn Morgan for acting as a mentor for myself and most of the other women selected for the RHFT. Having playing for various counties as well as England through age-group and open age cricket, I had the advantage of knowing the majority of the players included in RHFT squads. At the Sunrisers vs Western Storm game on the 5th September there was only 1 player in each 13-man squad that I did not recognise! So far I have officiated 3 fixtures at this level with 1 warm-up game between Southern Vipers and South East Stars (tipped to be the biggest competitors of the Southern Pool) at Hove where both myself, my colleague and the players had a chance to dust off the cobwebs whilst trying out the newly drafted RHFT and Covid regs. For my 2 RHFT games I was based at Chelmsford, where I stood with Chris Watts and Steve Davis (match referee) for the Sunrisers vs Southern Vipers match. Chris is a 6 foot plus tall chap so it was a comical little-and-large situation on-field…! My most recent game was between Sunrisers and Western Storm standing with Nigel Llong and Peter Such as the match referee. Both matches were streamed live through YouTube and the first even had radio commentary. So far (touch wood) there have been no issues amongst the players or staff, and feedback has been brilliant – it helps having video clips to pore over after the game. I think I have acquired a ‘curse’ in that I have been kept busy with appeals at my end whilst my colleague seems to have far fewer. Perhaps a matter of perspective, though the 9 LBW appeals at my end for the Sunrisers vs Southern Vipers game may prove evidence for my hypothesis.