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In the space of 4 days Umpire Consultant Graham Cooper managed to cover the not inconsiderable distance from Ljubljana to Tunbridge Wells all in the name of the ICC European Development Program.

During the weekend of March 19-21 he visited Slovenia to undertake the ECC Introductory Umpires Course and Exam for 4 very keen umpires.  The course was held in a local school that afforded excellent facilities and the 4 attendees worked hard to learn all they could from Graham.  It was extremely encouraging to see that three of the umpires were indigenous Slovenians who had learnt about cricket through local contacts.

Although the numbers attending were small, one must bear in mind that there is only one main club in Slovenia (Ljubljana CC).  A second club has recently been formed, however, and two of the umpires came from this club.  It is encouraging that they see the importance of umpires and are keen to involve umpiring training as part of their development.

There was almost a disaster during the weekend when Graham completely lost his voice following the Saturday sessions and it was touch and go whether he would get it back in time for the Sunday sessions and, more importantly, for the exam.  However, the gods were kind, and by resting his voice on Saturday evening it recovered sufficiently for him to be able get through Sunday’s work.  However, by Sunday night, and the flight home, it was going again and it was difficult for Graham to order his drinks on the flight home!

By Wednesday it had returned sufficiently for Graham to undertake his promise to visit the Tunbridge Wells branch of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers where he talked about the work of the EDP and, in particular, the umpiring programme.  About 15 members attended and listened intently to Graham as he outlined the cricketing structure in Europe.  Needless to say, many of the umpires did not realise that cricket in Europe was so far advanced and they were fascinated to hear how the programme has helped to develop umpires.  It was also interesting to be able to tell them that the EDP and ACU&S are working very closely in order to standardise the training, exams, qualification, assessment and grading process so that everyone in Europe is working along the same lines.

A busy, but very rewarding, few days – even though the voice suffered somewhat.