Board in an official plea for umpires

THE Durham Cricket Board Association of Cricket Officials has launched its umpiring and scoring courses ahead of the 2018 season.

The ECB’s new programme of umpire training sees four levels of training (stages one to four) aimed at providing people with a lower entry point into formal training.

The new courses are shorter, cheaper and spend more time on the skills required to be a competent umpire rather than the laws of the game, which can be learned via a new online course MCC are offering.

Stage one courses are just £30 and even include a year’s free membership to ECB ACO and further discounts are available to candidates seeking to take the stage two course immediately after the stage one course.

Umpiring across the country has hit an all-time low.

Durham is one of the many counties which has seen a fall in umpire numbers.

During a typical season across the county more than 8,500 umpire appointments need to be made by the various league and cup secretaries.

By far the busiest day is a Saturday when around 120 matches are played requiring 240 umpires.

Peter Brown, DCBACO Umpires Secretary and Appointments Officer for the Dukes North East Premier League and Durham Cricket League said: ”During the 2017 season 100 Durham Cricket League games had one umpire.

“Eighty games had no umpires at all, resulting in players officiating themselves.”

Durham Cricket Association chairman Paul Jordison said: “We would love to hear from any ex-cricketers who still wish to be involved in the game.

“It is not just old cricketers we want, absolutely anyone, irrespective of age, can become an umpire.

“We have excellent tutors to coach people through the twists and turns and a comprehensive mentoring system ensuring newcomers are paired with experienced umpires to assist whenever necessary.”

Anyone interested should contact Keith Sutherland (umpires) at kgsutherland@btinternet.com or Sam Blacklock (scorers) at samblacklock1997@gmail.com.