DCB ACO Newsletter ANNUAL DINNER

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1 DCB ACO Newsletter Issue 7, Summer/Autumn 2018 Chairman s Report This has been my 20 th year umpiring in the DCCL and like many of you has probably been the warmest and driest I can remember during that period. Despite this, on the odd occasion that we have experienced rain, I still receive reports that there are instances where umpires are interpreting the time game regulations incorrectly or are inconsistent as to when play should be suspended. Like all decisions we make player expect and respect consistency. Please take a moment to revisit the ECB ACO guidelines on ground, weather and light together with the DCCL regulations relating to games where there is a delay before or during a match due to weather or light. As you are probably aware, recent players surveys have indicated that clubs, nationally, are losing players and teams for numerous reasons, this is also apparent in the number of umpires officiating and the number of potential umpires coming on board. Currently we can appoint two umpires for each match most weekends up to and including divisions 5N & 5S, however, 5N &5S suffer when availability is low resulting in players umpiring. This trend is getting worse and very soon we will not be able to cover 5N &5S. We are making positive moves to try and increase umpire numbers and the first step was for your committee to appoint Waseem Mohammed County Recruitment Officer. I wish Waseem every success in a challenging position. Annually the committee attempt to recruit potential umpires through the usual resources clubs, website and media advertising. This normally results in recruiting sufficient umpires to replace those who have retired, never sufficient to increase numbers, which is this year s challenge. This is where you can help, the committee have a few ideas, thinking outside the box but if anyone out there can think of an initiative to recruit potential umpires and/or scorers please contact Adam Hitchcock, Waseem Mohammed (Bobo) or myself, we need ideas. As you will see later in this edition, Adam has organized a number of courses for this coming winter. These courses are initially for new potential umpires but the content of the course material is such that it can double up as a refresher course for existing umpires. The venues we have chosen are large enough to accommodate more people than last year, so please come along, you will be made more than welcome, you will I m sure enjoy the sessions and who knows you may learn something. David Connor CONTENTS: 1) Recruitment 2) Course Plans 3) End-of-Season Tips 4) Disciplinary Results 5) Scorers News 6) New Twitter Page 7) ACO Cricket Team? ANNUAL DINNER We are looking to book firstclass umpire Neil Bainton to speak at our annual dinner on 16 th Nov at Derby Rugby Club. Please contact Jon Salisbury if you re interested it is a great social occasion (plus excellent food and drink). It would be lovely to see members new and old there. Keep the date free!

2 Recruitment We NEED more umpires & scorers There has been a worrying decline in the number of umpires standing in our region. Therefore, the DCB ACO has created a position of County Recruitment Officer (CRO) to remedy this. We are delighted to announce that new committee member Waseem Mohammed has taken on this role. Having previously been able to fill umpires through to Division 5N & 5S, we are now struggling to appoint even to 4S! Please will EVERYONE spread the word that we need more officials and there is a full & extensive programme of courses coming up (open to absolutely everybody). If during your travels, anyone expresses interest in umpiring, please please give them Adam Hitchcock s phone number ( ) so we can capture them! There is without doubt a huge pool of players and club people who are potentially interested in umpiring and scoring. Our new CRO will also be looking to tap in to the market for underrepresented groups such as Young Officials, Asians, Women, and maybe even officials from other sports. Any further questions on this please ask me or dcbaconewsletter@gmail.com Adam Hitchcock (County Education Officer)

3 Courses, Courses, Courses! And here we have our plans for various courses across the county for the off-season PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD THESE LAST FEW GAMES ARE OUR OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN INTEREST Confirmed Introduction to Umpiring - Chesterfield Mon 17 th Sep 6:45pm-9:15pm (Staveley CC) Introduction to Umpiring Burton Thu 20 th Sep 6:45pm-9:15pm (Rolleston CC) Introduction to Umpiring - Derby Mon 24 th Sep 6:45pm-9:15pm (Duffield CC) Umpire Stage 1 - Derby Mon 8 th Oct 5 th Nov (Duffield CC) Umpire Stage 2 Derby Sun 10 th Nov 24 th Nov (Duffield CC) Plans Umpire Stage 1 Burton Jan-Feb (Rolleston CC) TBC Umpire Stage 2 - Burton Jan-Feb (Rolleston CC) TBC Umpire Stage 1 - Chesterfield Jan-Feb (Staveley CC) TBC Umpire Stage 2 - Chesterfield Jan-Feb (Staveley CC) TBC UMPIRE STAGE 3 - Derby Feb-Mar (Duffield CC) TBC Pre-season Umpires and Scorers Practical Seminar April TBC to stand at the highest level of league cricket and is available to all members who have completed Stage 2 or Equivalent. As well as the interpretation and application of Law it also covers the management of the match, the field and the players on it. Man management and other practical aspects are also covered. This course is also suitable for you if you are not aspiring to Premier League cricket, but still want to develop your skills and be the best umpire you can be.

4 End-of-Season Tips As we move into September and the exciting conclusion to our season, it might be helpful to bear in mind the following: If our current excellent weather starts to deteriorate, bad light may well become an issue, particularly if games become time games following a rain delay. Many of our games can finish as late as 8pm when this happens, so it might be prudent to discuss at the toss the importance of good over rates (when to start the last over) and what your tolerances are for weather & light. Some mid-table games may be gentler affairs with neither side having much to play for, but others will inevitably be even more intense as every point becomes crucial. Having a degree of empathy towards the players situations may help but don t be pressured into doing something you wouldn t ordinarily do. Remember, as a team of four officials, to synchronise your time-pieces with the pavilion clock so the potential for confusion is minimised. DISCIPLINARY RESULTS Thank you for not shirking your responsibilities when it comes to reporting misconduct, whether they be at Level 1 (minor misdemeanours) or the more serious Level 2 (full report and penalty runes). Here is a summary of what has occurred this season so far: Amazingly, there have so far only been 3 full reports in the DCCL (each of which were for dissenting an umpire s decision). Has player behaviour really improved? This fact would suggest that either yes it has, or we are not bothering to report instances which should be. Maybe the new in-game penalties are having an effect. Please let us know what your experience has been this year. Has sledging and verbal abuse become less frequent? The Minor Misdemeanour system has been more widely used, with roughly a couple of dozen yellow cards handed out so far. Remember, any Level 1 offence is also automatically a Minor Misdemeanour. There has also been, in the Premier Cup, a Level 2 offence for Serious Dissent at an Umpire s Decision. In the National Knockout involving Derbyshire clubs, there have also been two Level 2 offences (one for serious dissent, another for throwing the ball at another player in an inappropriate and dangerous manner). Remember, any Level 2 offence automatically requires 5 penalty runs to be added to the non-offending team and a written report to the league. HAPPILY THERE HAVE BEEN NO LEVEL 3 OR LEVEL 4 OFFENCES SO FAR! THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT!

5 Scorers News I hope you've had a good season so far. We started this season with new scoring software that not many of us were familiar with. Judging by the number of calls I've not been getting you're coping well. The workshop many attended in May was helpful, scorers bringing their issues and, as a group, helping to solve them. I'm starting to plan this winter s courses. My thoughts so far are: Introduction to Scoring - one north, one south Club Scorers Course - hopefully at Wirksworth CC PCS - possibly at Duffield CC Adam and I are in discussion about a joint Scorers and Umpires DLS course. The League have recently introduced DLS in to 50 over cup games, and few scorers or umpires know how to run this. If you have any other thoughts about what is needed please let me know. Please continue to push scoring as an option for youngsters wishing to complete their Duke of Edinburgh, not only can they learn a new skill, but many clubs will pay them. We thank Jane Hough for her excellent work in recruiting and training scorers. We look forward to bringing you dates for the courses (which umpires may learn from too). DL/DLS is creeping into our game more and more so stay tuned for further announcements on a training seminar.

6 New Twitter Page We re absolutely delighted to announce we now have a DCB ACO Twitter Feed. This will be regularly updated with news and information about all things relating to umpiring and scoring in Derbyshire. If you re a Twitter user, please add and follow us to stay updated. If you re not, you can always check online for updates that way. Stay tuned for a Facebook page too! And finally an ACO cricket team? What do you think about playing a one-off match Umpires and Scorers VS Coaches, with players officiating? One of our members is about to complete his 50 th year at his club and we d love it if we could get this game on to celebrate and raise money. Please contact us if you re interested in playing (or just standing in the field!) it would be such great fun! Edited by A Hitchcock please send any views, questions or stories to dcbaconewsletter@googl .com we need your input for your newsletter to be a success!