ECB woos umpires again

The ECB wants to sort out the umpiring mess in the UK by presenting its vision of the future, but it has much ground to make up today when it meets with the general council of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers.

The Association, known as ACUS, will hear a proposal from Lord's to form the 'Association of Cricket Officials'. The ECB would like to merge ACUS and its own Officials Association - which has attracted only about 1200 members since formation last year - under the umbrella of the county boards.

The ECB presentation document makes no mention of the Institute of Cricket Umpires and Scorers, known as ICUS, which was set up this year to offer top to tail training, including Edexcel-accredited BTEC courses to fit into the educational system.

The bottom line for the ECB is whether they can persuade ACUS to give up their independence - a status umpires and scorers have cherished since the association was formed in 1953. Even though attitudes within the ECB administration have changed along with the first class power structure, many people within the recreational game view Lord's with immense suspicion after so many years of under-funding.

ACUS are vulnerable through their unwieldy, outdated governance structure and thin finances - not helped by the ECB cutting off the £25,000 annual grant - but the rank-and-file have a fantastic spirit with, one suspects, a low opinion of bureaucracy.

For too long the First Class Forum, with power over revenue distribution, ensured there was a 'them and us' climate, reflected by the shortage of money filtering through to cricket development in the shires. Nowhere was this attitude better reflected than in umpiring. First-class umpires were appointed from the ranks of former professional players without the formal training and examination that ACUS required for the vast majority of umpires outside the county circuit.

One would have thought that county experience and proper qualifications would create the ideal international umpire, but the ECB did not subscribe to that until relatively recently when the ICC took control of officials. It is very surprising - indeed suspicious -- that only two officials have squeezed on to the English first class list without having played at pro level -- Neil Bainton and Jeff Evans - though it is true there are an encouraging number in the reserves, including Martin Bodenham, Keith Coburn, Stephen Garratt and Terry Urben.

With David Collier as chief executive, the ECB is changing its spots as quickly as it can, but recreational cricket is an area with 'history'. And umpires have long memories. The ECB have to prove that ACUS would be better off losing their independence. Their presentation document to these experienced, dedicated men does not seem to do so.

This is quite apart from the politics of independence. The danger of merging with governing bodies was thrown luridly under the spotlight by the Darrell Hair business last year and the forfeit by Pakistan of the Test at the Oval. ICC proved incapable of making sensible decisions under the stress of international politics, and Hair - rated as their second-best umpire - was effectively sacked for making correct umpiring decisions.

The ECB propose that the proposed Association of Cricket Officials is formed on a structure based on 39 county associations, with regional forums based on five ECB regions and the European Cricket Council.

Each county elects a representative to the board, with a say in the distribution of finances, and to the forum for the wider picture. There will be a national board operating under the umbrella of the ECB. The 13 members, with an independent chairman, with be a representatives from six regions, a representative of the MCC, scorers and women's cricket, an education director, an ECB finance director, an independent director and an ECB executive director.

Convincing the ACUS membership and winning a two-thirds majority on a ballot will take some doing.