ECB ACO Newsletter - Spring 2013

Friends AfarNow that this Newsletter reaches across the world by the electronic wizardry ofe-mail, web pages, and links through other sites – we welcome contributions from our‘European’ colleagues, and those ‘Overseas’ friends further afield in more tropical climes – sosend your club notes, personal stories, pictures of pavilions (and scoreboxes!), and anythingelse your colleagues would enjoy reading about.ICC Associate and Affiliate International Umpires PanelNeils Gunnar Bagh (Denmark), Ian Ramage (Scotland), Mark Hawthorne (Ireland) and Richard Smith (Ireland) are allEuropean umpires on the ICC A&A panel. In a different look at our ‘Friends Afar’, we asked Neils and Ian for theirexperiences to date.The first thing I noticed coming into thisworld was the difference in the setupsurrounding the matches, with matchreferees present or a telephone call awayand the emphasis on pct. I had a bit ofexperience in that area from the ICCEurope Elite Panel, but only for one-daycricket and being appointed to matches as amember of the A&A Panel, whether itsODIs or 4-day games in theIntercontinental Cup, is a step up and adifferent world, one that I would not havebeen exposed to had I not been selected forthe A&A Panel.The work on the field is not thatdifferent from what one is used to, someareas are actually easier; as for exampleplayers are generally well behaved, more sothan in domestic matches, but the scrutinyand the pressure is more intense. With aprofessional setup the expectations arehigher. But umpiring in a professionalenvironment improves your own game andwith increased knowledge and exposure toa higher level of cricket, greater selfconfidenceis also increased.The first question I am often asked as amember of the A&A Panel is about thetravel and visiting different countries.Funnily enough that is not what I rememberas there is seldom time to be a tourist assuch, and as these matches are rarely a oneoff,the most rewarding time, apart frombeing on the field of play, is actually thetime you spend with colleagues and othermembers of the pct. That is not to say thatyou can´t see things and experience thedifferent countries, but I´m often surprisedhow little of a country I actually get to seeeven though I am there for say 10 days.For an amateur like me, the biggest stepis/was to mentally enter a professionalworld. For many of our colleagues from theICC Elite and International Panels,umpiring is work, but it’s something, likethe rest of your game, to constantly workon. You never stop learning and hopefullyyou improve continually as well.Neils Gunnar BaghUmpiring for the International Cricket Council2012 was my fourth year on the ICC Associate and Affiliate International Umpires Panel and probably my best year sofar in terms of appointments and performance.The A & A Panel is one of three ICC Panels,sitting below the Elite and International Panels,and is considered to be the pinnacle forumpires from non-Test playing countries. A& A Panel umpires can stand in ODIs andT20s involving Associate countries, IntercontinentalCup matches and various high-profiletournaments such as the U19 World Cup andthe Women’s World Cup.In 2012 I was lucky enough to be appointedto several tournaments and seriesboth at home and in other parts of the cricketingworld.Shortly before our domestic season started,I spent two weeks in the UAE with colleaguesfrom the A & A and InternationalPanels officiating in the World T20 Qualifier.This involved 10 match days in 12 days andtwo matches per day at venues in Dubai, AbuDhabi and Sharjah – for me it meant 11 onfieldappointments and 8 as third umpire.Highlights for me were third umpiring thefinal under lights at the Dubai InternationalStadium and standing in a match with SimonTaufel who was there as our umpire mentor.I was appointed to the Scotland v Canadaseries in July but, unfortunately, last summer’sawful weather intervened and, for thesecond time in a row for me, not a ball wasbowled in the four-day match. This was reallydisappointing as there’s little opportunityfor multi-day cricket and it involves very differentchallenges to one-day matches. Wemanaged to play one of the two ODIs on thesecond reserve day thanks to a monumentaleffort by the guys at Ayr.I was delighted to get the chance to umpirea Test playing nation when Bangladesh visitedThe Netherlands to play the home sideand Scotland in three T20s in three days.This gave me the best seat in the house towatch another fantastic hundred from RichieBerrington and to witness first hand Scotland’sfirst win over a Test Country. On dayslike this, you reflect after the match thate-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 14 contact us on 0121 446 2710