ECC Umpire Consultant Graham Cooper paid his first ever visit to Austria during the weekend of 1-2 March, when he led the ECC Introductory Umpires Course and Examination for 7 keen umpires in Vienna.

The weekend started well with full attendance for the Friday night session where Graham met all the umpires and put them through their paces whilst dealing with the role of the umpire. Since all of them have good umpiring experience this session was more of a refresher than anything else, but it was a good pre-cursor to the rest of the weekend in which the laws were discussed in great detail. The course ended on Sunday afternoon when 6 of the 7 took the ECC Introductory Umpires Examination - we wish them well in this venture.

During the visit Graham was also able to discuss matters concerning the ECC Trophy which is going to be held in Vienna during August this year. Graham's main interest was in finalising details of the umpiring requirements, selection and training prior to the tournament, and talks with Michael Bailey (Tournament Organiser) and Walter Blaschke (Principle Umpire) went on late into the night - albeit over a good meal at TGI Fridays in the centre of Vienna.

Graham will be re-visiting Vienna in June when he will observe 4 umpires in action at local league matches with a view to giving constructive assistance in the art and techniques of umpiring. This is a major step in the development of all umpires and Graham is very keen to see this aspect of training develop throughout Europe. Classroom knowledge is fine, but field craft and observation of umpires at work is the next logical step in any umpires training programme. He will then return to Vienna for the ECC Trophy where he will be umpiring as well as assisting Mike and Walter to ensure that all the preparatory work is put into practice.

Roll on the summer!!!