ECB ACO Newsletter - Spring 2013

Martyn Fryer contacted us with a different point of view about some traditional concepts on thechanging role of scoring at 1st Class level.Having, last season, been appointed asMiddlesex 2 nd XI scorer, after many yearsscoring, umpiring and coaching around thecountry, and having been engrossed by themany words written by, and in response to,Keith Booth’s ‘Whither Scoring’, I wouldlike, if I may, to add my two’penneth.My approach to scoring has always beentraditional (before A Scarlett Esq jumps onthat – I am not talking about my use oftriangles for byes!). I was always taught,and practiced, that the Scorer is part of ateam of 4 – 2 Scorers, 2 Umpires. Thatthey, the Officials team, are responsible formanaging the game and ensuring thatfairness is safeguarded for the benefit of‘the game’. I have also noticed, althoughnot been particularly happy with, theslightly subservient role of the scorer – asort of ‘seen not heard’, ‘speak when youare spoken to’, ‘medals for the umpires’,‘for the love of the game’ attitude. Really,as Keith Booth is writing, scoring is seenby many to be more of a hobby than aprofession and as such we should justcapitulate under the threat to our positionsfrom OPTA, some parts of the ECB andprobably others. Because of this ‘2 nd classofficial’ tradition some, if not most, areregarding the whithering of scoring as afait accompli.Since my appointment with Middlesex,my view has changed somewhat.I am, as all aspiring officials are taught,part of a team. That team, though, isMiddlesex CCC.During a match, I work alongsideanother scorer, two (or sometimes moreUmpires and Referees), maybe ascoreboard operator (or two). But pleasenote I work alongside them. The team I ampart of is Middlesex CCC. My ‘chain ofcommand’, my bosses are the Second XICoach, the Head Coach, the Director ofCricket and the Chief Executive. As withall employees of Team Middlesex, ourresponsibilities are really to our Members,and to the success and development ofMiddlesex CCC.What has changed, with myappointment, is that I am now a Scorer inProfessional Cricket, the change fromscoring in recreational cricket is subtle, butat the same time vast. Firstly, my paychequeis not signed by the ACO, nor byChris Kelly, nor by the Umpires andScorer, that I happen to be workingalongside at any particular time. My paychequeis signed by Middlesex CCC. Withthat comes the first indication of which isactually the team that I am mostresponsible to. Secondly, let’s take thecalculation of over-rates as an example. Aswe all know, Umpires are responsible fortheir calculation. We also all know,although in our ‘slightly subservientposition’ we have often been reluctant toScorer Alan James works during the Friends Life T20 match between Middlesex andSomerset at Southgate Cricket Clubsay, that the Umpires are not always right.In a professional environment, whererelegation could be determined by the lossof a point for a slow over rate, wheresomeone’s career could be affected by sucha relegation, where membership dwindlesbecause of a lack of success, where theClub’s income suffers because of theirSecond Division status, surely it is onlyright, and, indeed my duty as part of the(Middlesex) team, as an employee of theClub, to help the Umpires come to aconclusion that would not be sodetrimental to MY team. To point out, thatmaybe the batter changing gloves everyfifth over is worth a minute or two, or themoving of screens for the right, left battingpartnership slowed us down a little, issurely part of my duty to my team. Asanother example, last season in one of my2 nd XI games, a ball was returned from theundergrowth, by a dog walker, 30 oversafter being lost and replaced. The Umpirethrew it to the (opposition) bowler andbrought the ‘old ball’ over to the scorebox.I carried out my duty to my team(Middlesex) and informed him that thiswould be quite unfair to my batters. Aftersome discussion, he agreed.I am, and do feel, more a part of TeamMiddlesex CCC than I do, for instance feela part of the ECB ACO, or indeed theAssociation of County Scorers, proudthough, that I am, of being a member ofboth organisations.I have tried to ensure that MiddlesexCCC get very good ‘value for money’ fromme. I have made the position of 2 nd XIScorer my own. I do not just put dots in ascorebook, do a few statistics and blendinto the background. As many of my peersdo, I get involved in players expenses,mileage calculations, yearbook reports andmany other things that gravitate towardsbeing the duties of a first class scorer.However, I do not stop there, I have takencoaching courses and regularly ‘take themit’ during warm-ups. I have devolpednew ways of presenting and collectingstatistics that have more relevance to thepoints that our coaches are coaching.During the winter I am at Lord’s orFinchley working with the full-timecoaches to help our players develop andimprove. I have approached companiesregarding being potential sponsors of theclub. I have taken players to the airport fortheir BPL stints. I have even helped movefurniture from one player’s flat to another.I visit clubs to talk to junior membersabout scoring, and visit maths classes inlocal schools to help present the use ofmaths in sport and the workplace. This useof my time, along with many other ‘nontraditional’duties means that rather thanwithering away, my future is looking goodand my job as a 2 nd XI scorer is far morethan just a hobby. In fact, perhaps becauseof the effort I put in, and my realisationthat my responsibility is to a different teamthan has been traditional, the SeniorManagement of Middlesex’s first reactionto the recent ‘perhaps we don’t need awayscorers’ discussion was, “We can see nocircumstances where we will not have afull time Scorer”.To summarise, there is no need for theposition of First Class Scorer to whither.What is needed is the recognition that thetraditional view of the duties andresponsibilities of such a post holder havechanged. The game has changed. Theofficiating has changed. The Laws havechanged. The job has changed. I am not forwithering, I am for working hard for MYteam and securing MY position. If you as ascorer, or indeed you as a body representingscorers stand still then you undoubtedlywill wither under the fast paced change ofmodern professional cricket. I won’t bestanding still, I will be developing myposition and my job for the benefit of myteam and myself, and perhaps wavinggoodbye to a few of the witherers?e-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 29 contact us on 0121 446 2710