Welsh Association Of Cricket Officials

We aim to develop competent umpires and scorers to control and guide cricket matches at every level 'From Playground to Test Arena'.

The commitment from us is to provide a 'pathway' - to enable you to progress at whatever pace you prefer to whatever level you wish.



















ACO (WALES) Business Plan

1.         Introduction and Background

 

Membership

 

All members of the ECB Association of Cricket Officials (ECB ACO) who have chosen Wales as their county or, as default, have a postal address within Wales, are automatically members of the Wales Association of Cricket Officials (“Wales ACO”).

 

Wales ACO is underpinned by local branches primarily based around league structures. They comprise Monmouthshire; Eastern Glamorgan; Swansea & District; Llanelli & District; Carmarthen & District; Pembrokeshire and North Wales.  All members of Wales ACO have the right to attend their local branches for meetings and training.  The branches levy annual subscriptions, typically of £5 -£10.

 

Committee

 

Members of Wales ACO elect officers on an annual basis in accordance with the constitution.  

 

2.         Strategic Statement

Aims

 

To promote, in Wales, the interests of cricket officials in particular and cricket in general, in co-operation with all appropriate local bodies and national associations and, where appropriate, similar bodies in other counties. Wales ACO will take account of and apply all ECB directives, regulations and guidance

 

Objectives

 

To recruit and retain Umpires and Scorers and to provide a structured programme to meet their training needs and aspirations. Wales ACO will also provide sufficient trainers, assessors, and verifiers so as to ensure that development and competence levels are achieved.

 

 

3.         Recruitment and Membership Numbers

The number of members within Wales has increased over the last few years by over 15% per annum as can be seen from the table below:

 

Year

2009

2010

2011 (June)

Members

178

203

247

 

The growth levels are somewhat misleading in that most competitions now require those officiating to have ACO membership and so a number of established officials have had to join. Nevertheless there has still been an increase in ‘new umpire’ membership. Of the 247 members as at June 2011, 224 are classed as ‘full’ members i.e. they are covered by insurance and hold a valid CRB enhanced disclosure.

 

The age distribution of members is, perhaps inevitably, ‘skewed’ towards the upper age profile of the population, this need to be addressed through the identified delivery streams:

 

·         To form a working relationship with the ECB Coaches Association within Wales – thereby promoting Young Officials

·         To form a working relationship with the Cricket Development Officers within Wales – promoting the role of umpires

·         Through ‘Cricket Wales’ to promote Wales ACO to Leagues and competition organisers within Wales

·         To liaise with the Groundsmen’s Association – aiding the improvement of grounds and pitches

·         To continue recruitment through match day officiating  - encouraging players to gain an understanding of the laws and role of the umpire

·         To follow-up the national initiative of encouraging scorers to become members of Wales ACO – offering scorers courses

 

Taking the figure of 224 as the base we would like to see the membership grow by at least 10% year on year over the next 5 years. This will be a challenging figure as mentioned previously our age profile is ‘skewed’. The growth projection is shown in the table below:

 

Year

2011 (base)

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Membership Target

224 (actual)

246

271

298

328

360

 

 


4.         Education and Development Programme

Wales ACO will work with the ECB ACO in establishing an integrated, open and transparent system for education and performance assessment. Officials who wish to progress will be required to undergo a series of assessments and self evaluation exercises as they move through the examination and grading structures. The key to the overall success is down to

 

  • The availability and commitment of suitably qualified tutors to lead the courses
  • Suitably qualified match observers to undertake the boundary assessments
  • Mentors and peer support for advice and guidance

 

In taking this approach there is obviously a much higher cost involvement. Currently initial training is carried by the local branches, which is then followed by national assessments.

 

For example, a member who wishes to sit the Level 1 course will pay a fee which includes £40 remitted to ECBACO for the course materials and a further sum retained locally to defray the cost of the hire of facilities and the payment of the tutors, although at the moment most tutors offer their services free of charge for Level 1.  There is a balance between requiring candidates to pay the full economic cost and not making course fees prohibitive.

 

There is an expectation that courses will be run at a suitable venue.  Gone are the days of using a cold pavilion on a winter's evening. As an example, the hire of a “classroom” for the East Glam/Monmouthshire courses run last winter at the ‘SWALEC’ Stadium cost in the region of £100 per day. For a Level 1 course, two days are required for the training with a further half day for the examination.  At some branches, training is conducted by weekly sessions.  About 8 evenings are required for the training with a further evening for the examination.  This also incurs venue costs.

 

With the use of match observers undertaking boundary assessment comes a new additional cost and current guidelines equate the assessors' fees to umpire's match fees. In the case of an umpire being assessed twice during a season a cost approaching £70 is incurred. Assessments are compulsory for Level 2 training and to date the fees for there have been met by the ECBACO centrally from the candidates' course fees.  It is intended to devolve Level 2 training regionally in future,  This will mean that cost of assessments will fall on the county board, which is Cricket Wales in our case.

 

There will also be the need to hold individual 'Professional Discussion' sessions as umpires progress.   These form part of the Level 1A and Level 2 courses.

 

For umpires wishing to progress, the course costs increase.  For Level 2 courses an indoor cricket facility is required. The hire of  the ‘SWALEC’ Stadium Indoor Cricket School currently costs £40 per hour.  This is in addition to the “classroom” cost referred to above.

 

Training of tutors and assessors is also required and these sessions also incur venue and travel costs. 

 

5.         Grading and Appointments

 

Over the last two years the ECB ACO has developed a grading structure for umpires taking into account the following criteria:

 

  • The individual examination progression
  • On field performance assessment – ACO Assessor
  • Level of matches officiated i.e. league, cup, friendly, adult, junior
  • League or Captains reports
  • League requirement

 

Following consideration of the above an individual umpire is given a ‘Grade’ which ideally entitles him to umpire matches up to a certain level. Umpires can nevertheless officiate matched deemed to be at a higher grade level. This information is available to the various appointment officers.

 

At the moment various people appoint umpires to matches as follows:

 

·         Matches under the auspices of the ECB – made by the ECB ACO Regional Appointments Co-ordinator in conjunction with Wales ACO

·         Local Leagues – usually made by a sub-committee/individual nominee of the league – in most cases a Wales ACO member.

·         Non-league – usually made on an historical contact basis

 

The aim of Wales ACO is to be involved in the appointment of umpires for all classes of matches within Wales, thereby relieving both leagues and individuals of this task. There will obviously be close discussions with the executive of both leagues and competitions in this regard. It is hoped that Cricket Wales can add support in this area.

 

 

6.         Finance

 

 Currently Wales ACO receives funding from two sources:

 

  • Per capita membership rebate from the ECB ACO of £4 - for 2011 £812 was received.
  • Grant from Cricket Wales – for 2011 £1000 was received.

 

Prior to 2010, Wales ACO had no funds of its own.  All expenses were met by CBW which retained the previous years' capitation payments which were paid to it by ECBACO.   The members pay no direct subscription since this is covered by the capitation payment.

 

Apart from Education and Development, the major costs incurred relate to travelling and meeting room hire. Like Cricket Wales we service activity throughout Wales. Holding any major event such as a national training meeting or the AGM can cost in the region of £500 which takes up a large proportion of the available funds.

 

Attached is an indicative budget. At present training is delivered using the laptops and projectors supplied by the now defunct ACU&S and passed on to the various branches.  Although the equipment is of good quality, it is all 5 or 6 years old and failures can be expected.  Projector bulbs are several hundred pounds and the replacement cost of a laptop and projector is likely to be of the order of £700.  None of the branches will have sufficient funds to meet such a cost and they are likely to look to Wales ACO for assistance.  It is therefore essential that we have some reserve of funds to meet such contingencies.

 

David Carter – Wales ACO chairman.

Peter Williams – Wales ACO Treasurer

 

1st August 2011.

 

 

APPOINTMENTS FOR REPRESENTATIVE MATCHES IN 2012


 

Wales ACO is the regional body administering umpiring in Wales.  We collate league markings and grade our umpires. Those gradings are reported to the ECBACO centrally at the end of every season.  Gradings affect the matches which may be allocated to umpires in the following season, both at league level and in national competitions.   It is important, therefore, that the right umpires stand in the right matches.

 

In past years, local and club organisers wanting umpires have tended to approach their "umpiring mates" for assistance.  We are trying to get away from this in the interests of improving standards and making appropriate appointments.   

 

A list of our various local appointment officers who should be approached if umpires are required.  I shall be grateful if you will distribute this as widely as possible to leagues, regions and clubs.  Please particularly ask the regional junior organisers to make use of this network.

 

Appointments for ECB matches are made by the regional appointments officer for South Wales and the West, Les Clemenson.  Les is based in the West Country. His local liaison is with our National Performance Officer, Tony Davies who can be contacted at 27 Lydstep Road, Lundy Park, Barry CF62 9EA T:01446 408525. 

 

More information about what we do and how we do it is on our website at www.walesaco.org.uk.