ACO NEWSLETTER - Ecb - England and Wales Cricket Board

ECB agrees to new county schedule from 2014England’s County Championship will benefitfrom Sunday starts after the ECB Boardagreed to a new domestic schedule for afour-year period from 2014.A new-look county programme will alsoinclude Twenty20 cricket played weeklyover much of the season, predominantly onFriday evenings, and the scrapping of 40-over cricket which will be replaced by the50-over format, replicating the internationalgame.With more than 25,000 respondents, theCounty Research Study conducted by ‘Populus’reinforced the key findings of the MorganReview, in particular the need toprovide regular scheduling for Countycricket.The ECB Board has therefore agreed thatfor the period 2014-2017 the format of thedomestic season should be as follows:LV= County Championship - retained astwo divisions of nine teams with two promotedand relegated each season with thefirst 14 slots commencing on Sundays.Friends Life t20 - 14 matches per county,mostly played on Friday evenings, with thetop eight counties progressing to a quarterfinalround and the retention of the popularFLt20 finals day format.Clydesdale Bank 50 - a total of eightgroup matches per county with eight teamsprogressing to a quarter-final round andplayed in a format consistent with ICC-approvedinternational cricket of 50 overs perteam.A rain-wrecked FLt20 last summer subduedcalls for the competition to be playedover a short, intense period in mid-summer.The FLt20 will therefore consist of 14matches per County, mostly played on Fridayevenings. The top eight counties willprogress to a quarter-final round and thepopular FLt20 Finals Day format is retained.In 2013, in order to avoid a repeat of theearliest starts in history in 2011 and 2012,the county season is likely to commenceon April 9 and finish in the third week ofSeptember.In the news… Charlie FentonYou may have noticed some newspaper articles about the Derbyshire andCheshire League umpire, Charlie Fenton from Hyde. He featured in the paperson October 25th, regarding his ‘enforced’ retirement from his league becauseof issues over insurance for someone of his age.The following article was published in the Daily Mail.One of Britain’s oldest umpires has beenforced to retire despite his perfect eyesightand good health because he is no longer coveredby insurance.Charlie Fenton, 92, was disappointed thathe had to step down from the Derbyshireand Cheshire Cricket League after more than61 years umpiring matches.The spritely pensioner is no longer coveredunder the league’s insurance whichonly insures umpires up to the age of 85-years-old.Mr Fenton, from Hyde, Tameside, said:‘I’m so lucky. I’m so fit, I don’t wearglasses, I don’t wear a hearing aid and I canstand for seven hours. I’m so happy I’ve hada great career but, of course, I’m disappointedit’s come to an end.‘I won’t get bored in the summer, though,as I’ve promised to help the boys comingthrough next season and pass on some of myknowledge.’The great-grandfather’s love of the gamebegan at school when he travelled to OldTrafford to watch Lancashire play.He said: ‘My mum would pack me off onthe train with a bottle of pop and send me towatch Lancashire. Cricket is a sport whichjust grows on you.’His passion for watching cricket was puton hold during World War Two, but by theearly 1950s he was spending his weekendsumpiring, combining it with his job as apartner in a firm of Manchester estateagents.He shared his love of cricket with latewife Jessie and their two daughters.Mr Fenton said: ‘I’ve never missed a singlematch.‘If I was ill, it was between Monday toFriday, I was always better by theweekends.‘I can honestly say I’ve never had a cigarette;I’ve always got out and about, so Ithink that might be why my health hasstayed the way it is.’Next month he will be presented with anaward from the league in honour of his longservice.The League’s honorary secretary, MikeBrown, said: ‘We hadn’t realised the agelimit on our insurance policy is 85.‘We said could he carry on if he found hisown insurance but that was a non-starter.‘It’s with great sadness that we’ve had tosay goodbye to Charlie.‘We have our annual dinner on November9 where we’ll present him with somethingsuitable to mark his many years of service.’The oldest umpire was Joe Filliston whowas still umpiring at 100-years-old. Heplayed for Staffordshire.Mr Fenton could be the longest-servingumpire. The title officially belongs to AustralianDean Groves who was in the job for55 years.ECB ACO emailed Mike Brown, theHonorary Secretary of the Derbyshire andCheshire Cricket League, who respondedwith the following:There is, in fact, no question of Mr Fentonbeing “forced” to retire. In 2012 welooked more closely at our policy at whichpoint it became clear that we had a problemin terms of the age restrictions. I supposethis is something that we should have beenaware of before. When all the publicity wasaired originally in the summer it focused onMr Fenton’s 61 years of umpiring and webecame concerned that he would be vulnerableshould he suffer an injury. At the age of92, we were naturally concerned for hiswelfare and after discussions, I was asked tospeak to Mr Fenton to explain the difficultieswe faced.At no point, was it ever suggested that heshould retire. I explained the problems wefaced and suggested that he may wish to explorethe possibility of obtaining his owncover. He then stated that he had decided toretire anyway at the end of the 2012 season.He then asked if we would allow him to seeout the season and I agreed. I understandfully his disappointment but I would stressthat retirement was his own decision andwas never suggested by the League. Therehas been another suggestion from an outsidesource that he could continue without personalaccident cover. However, this is notsomething that the League would wish toendorse.You will appreciate that there has beensomething of a media “frenzy” in the lastfew days which has become quite irritatingespecially when this League’s position hasbeen misrepresented. In my opinion, theLeague has dealt with this matter with sensitivityand a great deal of care. Our primeconcern is for the welfare of Mr Fenton.Editor note: Mr Fenton is not a member ofECB ACO. However if he were he would beautomatically covered by our liability insuranceas there is no age restriction in respectto liability. However, the personal accidentcover provided to ECB ACO members is restrictedto an age limit of 85 in line with normalinsurance practice. Regrettably, personalaccident cover for people over 85 is virtuallyimpossible to achieve.Kerry London is the broker for the Associationof Cricket Officials.Policy number: 11/SZ/15316801/01Lawphone Legal Helpline:0870 241 4140Website: www.mycricketcover.co.uke-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 23 contact us on 0121 446 2710