Alison Davies

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Ever wondered how the umpires for ECC tournaments are chosen? Ever thought about giving it a try yourself?With a huge number of umpiring courses having been held throughout Europe over the past few years, there are now more people than ever who could be capable of making the step up from umpiring in their national league to umpiring at ECC tournaments. As soon as one season ends, administration and organization for the following season’s tournaments starts, and the call goes out from the Europe Office for member country umpires to stand in those tournaments.European Development Program Umpire Consultant Graham Cooper contacts all member country governing bodies and/or umpiring associations, asking them to nominate any appropriately qualified individuals who are interested in taking part.

For leading Associate championships at U13, U15, U17 & U23 level, and all 2nd Division, Affiliate and Prospective Member Championships, all umpires must have attended and passed, as a minimum, the ECC Introductory Course or equivalent, and be current in terms of ongoing training within the 3 years prior to the championship. For the European Championships and the ICC European U19 World Cup Qualifier, all umpires must have, as a minimum, the ACU&S Part 1 qualification, must be current in terms of ongoing training within the 3 years prior to the championships, and must have been active in league or international matches within the past three years and received ongoing field craft training during this same period. Existing umpires of proven on-field ability but without the necessary qualification will be given equal consideration following recommendation and provision of full details of current training and previous on field performance over the past three years by their association to the EDM for the panel to consider. The EDP will provide every opportunity for umpires of proven experience to become qualified, by making ECC-appointed personnel available to conduct the relevant courses including refresher courses.Nominations are not restricted to participating countries and those received from non-participating countries will be given equal consideration.

Once the nominations are in, they are scrutinized by the ECC Umpires Selection Panel, and appointments are made for each event. The umpires selected have a percentage of their travel expenses reimbursed by the ECC, with the balance, plus their in-country expenses (accommodation, food etc), incorporated into the budget for that event – costs which are divided equally between the participating country associations.

To find out what it’s like to be a member-country umpire standing in an ECC tournament, read Graham Kelsey's report on his experiences at last season’s ECC Notts Sport® Trophy in Vienna. And if you fancy giving it a go yourself, contact your national cricket or umpiring association and make sure they are aware of your interest so that they can put your name forward next time round.