Alex Holowczak

501 Not Out – The film!

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25 years on from Brian Lara’s world-record breaking innings for Warwickshire at Edgbaston, ‘501 Not Out’ tells the story of cricket’s first global superstar.

Exploring Lara’s remarkable ascent in 1994, the film also celebrates his development in Trinidad and features interviews with a number of iconic names from the world of cricket. These include his former international and county team-mates from the historic treble winning season, his friends and coaches in the Caribbean, fans who witnessed the marathon knock first-hand and those inspired by his heroics. Notable contributions come from Sir Curtly Ambrose, Allan Donald, Dermot Reeve, Gladstone Small, Dennis Amiss, Jonathan Agnew, Ian Bell, Deryck Murray, Bryan Davis and Trini Posse Group co-founders Nikki Borde and Nigel Camacho.

Our World Premiere screening is this Saturday 17th August at The MAC from 7pm and it is nearly sold out so GET IN QUICK WHILE YOU STILL CAN! It will be followed by a Q&A that will feature Tim Munton John Morris and also the film’s director. The after party will be at, where else, but the new 501* lounge and bar at Edgbaston straight after the premiere event has concluded where we have Marston’s sponsoring and providing us with a pop up bar. There will also be a second screening on Wednesday 21st August and we still have good availability for this screening.

Below I’ve attached the poster for our campaign, the official trailer and links to the MAC website where tickets can be booked online: 

TRAILER:

WORLD PREMIERE ON 17th AUGUST: https://macbirmingham.co.uk/event/501-not-out-q-a

SECOND SCREENING ON 21st AUGUST: https://macbirmingham.co.uk/event/501-not-out-director-q-a

Mid-Season Review Members Meeting

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We shall have a mid-season review meeting at Edgbaston on Monday, 22nd July, commencing at 7:30pm.

This is an excellent opportunity for newer and developing officials to share experiences and raise any issues they would like to discuss. We would very much welcome our more experienced officials to come along and provide guidance on how they have/would handle such matters and to share what life is like in the higher levels of recreational cricket.

Please note that we will not be able to provide tea and coffee at this meeting, due to Edgbaston increasing its prices. Nevertheless, we look forward to seeing you at Edgbaston!

Day at the Cricket 2019

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Our annual Day at the Cricket is scheduled for Day 3 of Warwickshire v Somerset in the County Championship Division 1 match on Tuesday, 20th August 2019 at Edgbaston. I hope as many of you can attend as possible and please come for a while if you cannot be there throughout.

David Bird is arranging the day, so please contact him on dbird55111@aol.com if you wish to attend.

Aspiring Umpires Hear How It Is Done!

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Sixteen aspiring umpires who recently participated in Warwickshire ACO’s Stage 2 course at Edgbaston thoroughly enjoyed the presence of a first-class umpire at the second session of their two day course.

Paul Pollard, former Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire opening bat and a member of the first-class umpires list since 2017, paid a visit to the course as part of a new initiative promoted by Chris Kelly, ECB Umpires Manager to provide a first-class umpire presence at Stage 2 umpire courses around the country.

Paul made a major contribution to the afternoon session on Managing Player Behaviour and applying Law 42 alongside the Warwickshire tutor team. After the initial activity of introducing course members to the requirements of Law 42 with the four levels of offence and their respective on field sanctions the course addressed the matter of umpires trying to manage player behaviour wherever possible in a pro-active sense. Paul provided many and varied perspectives on how he with his first-class colleagues seek to manage players and work with captains to nip issues in the bud.

Paul assisted by local Birmingham & District ECB Premier League and National List umpire Mansoor Qureshi addressed the issue of where the line lies between banter and abuse when discussing sledging and provided a range of potential responses umpires can employ in keeping firm control of match situations. The course members then looked at several case studies ranging from mild dissent to physical assault on another player to try and apply what they had learnt in terms of the Law 42 process and the proactive approach advocated by Paul and Mansoor.

The session finished with a look at how to manage disciplinary reporting processes and what might be expected by way of a good quality report for a league disciplinary officer or panel.

The afternoon ended with a question and answer session with Paul which covered his playing career as a doughty opening bat facing some of the quickest bowlers in the world in the shape of Malcolm Marshall, Courtney Walsh, Silvester Clarke etc on some challenging pitches as well as his umpiring career to date. Topics covered included what life is like on the first-class circuit as well as how umpires have adapted to the presence of DRS at televised matches.

We are very much indebted to Paul in enhancing what we normally offer our Stage 2 course members and giving an insight to officiating in the professional game. We look forward to the initiative promoted by Chris Kelly continuing with future cohorts of aspiring umpires.

David Johnson
County Education Officer
Warwickshire County ACO