The designated CRB administrator  for the Umpires Association, Peter McKenzie, has stood down from the post. Peter has been responsible for maintaining the CRB records of members and ensuring that  when members needed any renewals they were advised promptly. Peter has held this post since the inception of CRB checking and has carried out the task with his usual efficiency, but has found that with his increased involvement in the ECB, ACO and Notts Cricket Board the time available to him to oversee CRB is limited. On behalf of all the members I would like to thank Peter for all his efforts.

The new CRB administrator will be the Associations Secretary, Ervin Devney.

This Trophy is awarded to the best new umpire and is based on the examination result at Level 1 and performance on the cricket field during the first half of the season.

The award this year goes to Steve Sessions.

Steve did extremely well in the exam and has shown the right ability,  effectiveness and attitude on the cricket field. I am sure he has a bright future in Umpiring.

Congratulations.

Due to certain player registration problems being experienced it was agreed at the recent BDUA Management Committee meeting that members be reminded to retain the signed Team card received from the captains prior to the start of the match until at least the AGM of the league in November each year. It would probably be better if one umpire from each match took responsibility for this, I am sure you can arrange that between you.

This is something that should be being done anyway but I have to confess that I didn’t know that so I would guess that some of you didn’t either.

Ervin

The Association now has a number of umpires who have attended courses, passed various examinations, have the necessary experience and the ambition to umpire at a higher standard of cricket. The pool of umpires able to umpire in the Championship Division is therefore increasing. To facilitate this increase in eligible umpires will mean that those of us who have umpired the majority of the time in the Championship will have to accept that there will not be as many games available. The Hon Appointments Secretary will be even handed in his appointments but none of us should feel disappointed if we don’t get as many games in the Championship as in the past.

With the season just 4 weeks old there have been a few areas of concern as follows:

PROVISION OF SCORERS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION

Please be aware that all clubs must provide a scorer in the Championship Division. Failure to do so will result in a One Point deduction. Would Umpires please endorse the result sheet if a club FAILS to provide a scorer in the Championship.

PENALTY RUNS

When awarding Penalty Runs these are added to the score of the Team that does NOT commit the offence for which the runs have been awarded. They are not added to one team and deducted from the other (that would be a double penalty). When awarding Penalty Runs please ensure that you inform the Teams and the Scorers by signalling correctly at the time of the offence, NOT at the end of the game. If any of you are in doubt please contact me for clarification.

BALL BOUNCING MORE THAN TWICE

Any ball, legally delivered, bouncing more than twice before passing the popping crease, is to be called and signaled a NO BALL. This law has been in operation now for 2 years!

It must be obvious for most of you reading this that we have been experiencing some difficulties with the interpretation of the Laws. All I can do is ask you all to revise and read the Laws. If you haven’t been to a refresher course lately then it is something that you should consider doing in the winter. It is always interesting and an excuse for a drink and chat after with colleagues we don’t always get to stand with.

Harry was involved in a hit and run incident last week, he was deliberately knocked of his bike (not sure if motor or push). There were several witnesses and details were given to the Police who have subsequently interviewed a man. Has yet there appears to be no charges laid!!!! Thankfully Harry was released from Hospital last Friday, his injuries are not as serious as they could have been but he has a cracked femur (not sure which side) and plenty of bruises and aches and pains. I spoke to him today (6th May) and he hopes to be umpiring again as soon as he is able.

Iain gave a very interesting and candid talk to the meeting, in particular the pressures associated with the playing of Test Cricket. He spoke of the problems such as Depression and that this kind of illness affected far more Test Cricketers than was generally realized. He himself had suffered from what he called the ‘Black Dog’ of self doubt and whether he was good enough to play at that level. He had used the services of the New Zealand squads Sports Psychologist to help him overcome this. On a brighter note he talked of  his time playing in the Bassetlaw League with Glapwell Colliery and that he had thoroughly enjoyed the experience and had made many good friends. A more detail account of Iain’s talk can be found in the Downloads section of this website as General Meeting April 2011.

Mike Smedley & Iain O'Brien

It is hoped that our guest speaker at the April 2nd meeting will be Iain O’Brien, ex New Zealand and Glapwell Colliery CC.

This meeting is a must attend for all Umpires wishing to umpire in the top divisions of the Bassetlaw and beyond. There will be discussion relating to the 2011 season Law changes, the new disciplinary process in the Bassetlaw, Report writing and Umpires Progression towards level 2. The meeting will start promptly at 2,30pm and finish before 5.00pm.

Level 1 and level 1a courses are conducted by ACO Nottinghamshire at venues within the county and have open access for anyone. For progression to a level 2 course, individuals should be seen as ready  to join the Reserve list of the Nottinghamshire Premier League by our assessors in consultation with the county-wide assessment procedures and the County Performance Officer. All individuals seeking to progress to Level 2 must hold at least level 1a qualification.

This is how it is, it is not our decision or ACO Nottinghamshire’s decision, it is how the ECB wants it.

The ECB don’t want to spend money on courses for individuals to ‘aimlessly’ move up the qualification ladder merely for the sake of saying they are qualified. The ECB only want individuals to qualify when they reach a higher level. Where does that leave aspiring BDUA umpires? All we can recommend is that you get yourselves qualified to level 1a which could enable you to progress through the Bassetlaw League and ultimately be ready for nomination to the Premier League Reserve list. We can assure you that if you are good enough the BDUA will recommend you.

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact ACO Nottinghamshire Appointments and Performance Officer, Peter McKenzie on 01909 733094.