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Training

Training is obviously an important part of any officials association. The old ACU&S is no more and has been replaced by a new body, the ECB Association of Cricket Officials. This body, based in England, provides the training materials and examinations for umpires and scorers.

Cricket Scotland is fully supportive of the training of officials and has agreed to underwrite the costs involved. They recognise that we need to train new umpires to replace those who retire and hopefully to increase the total number of those officiating. 

The intention is to run a number of courses over the 2011-12 winter break.

Level 1

This is the main course for those who want to umpire on a Saturday afternoon. It will cover everything in the laws concerning a one day game and there will be lots of examples of field craft and how to deal with potential situations which could arise on the field.

The course lasts about 16 hours and there is an exam at the end. The exam has 80 multi-choice questions and the pass mark is 80%. This winter Bill McPate will run the course in Glasgow on Thursday evenings starting on 19th January 2012 and lasting for 8 weeks (see below). Sandy Scotland will run a similar course in Edinburgh over 2 weekends in March 2012 (see below) and a similar course, for the first time, in Tayside in November 2011 (see below). Further details, dates and venues etc, will be posted on this site and on the Cricket Scotland website as they become available.

We will need to know names before the courses start, so anyone who wishes to attend these courses should register with Lea Tsui at leatsui@cricketscotland.com when details become known. The course is free and Cricket Scotland will pay for the first year's membership of ECB ACO which anyone who wishes to take the Level 1 exam must take out.

Glasgow Training Dates

The Glasgow training course will be held at Clydesdale Cricket Club, Titwood starting on Thursday 19th January 2012 and lasting for eight weeks. The first 6 weeks of the course will cover the laws of the game with the 7th evening devoted to revision points and the last (8th March) to the Exam. Each evening's instruction will start at 7.30pm. Anyone wishing to attend this course should register with Billy McPate, the Course Instructor, at billy.mcpate@virginmedia.com. The full syllabus of the course can be found here.

Edinburgh Training Dates

The Edinburgh training course will be held on Saturday 10th, Sunday 11th and Sunday 18th March 2012 with the Level 1 exam being held at the end of the third session. The meetings will be held at the Cricket Scotland Headquarters at Mary Erskine School and will last from 11am to 5pm on each day.

TaysideTraining Dates

The Tayside training course will be held on Sunday 6th, Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th November 2011 with the Level 1 exam being held at the end of the third session. The meetings will be held at Forfarshire Cricket Club, Forthill, Dundee. Lunch will NOT be provided and particpants should therefore come prepared.

Introductory Course

ACO have also designed an introductory course. This is aimed at those still playing but who have to umpire in games where there are no appointed umpires, and those coaching or running youth sides. It is a one evening course with no exam but those attending will receive a certificate of attendance. Again the course will be free but we need to know names in advance. The courses were first run last winter and proved very popular. This winter we propose running about a dozen courses all over the country from Elgin to the Borders. Further details will be posted here and on the Cricket Scotland site as dates and venues are arranged. Again you will need to register your attendance with Lea Tsui at leatsui@cricketscotland.com.  

Scorers

A correspondence course is available for scorers to take and it is possible that a course may also be arranged if there is sufficient demand. In the first place, you should register your interest in such courses with Ken Nisbet at ken@nisbetk.fsnet.co.uk.

Continuing Education

Cricket Scotland also have a commitment to fund the continuing education of umpires and scorers.

We will update this site as more information becomes available. Meanwhile if you have any queries please contact Sandy Scotland at scotlandsa@yahoo.co.uk or 0131 551 2663.

Sandy Scotland