An Introduction to Scoring course has been arranged on cvent with a capacity of 10 people, running two consecutive Tuesday evenings (1^st and 8^th March ) for two hours each.

The course is at Kenilworth Wardens 7.30 to 9.30 at a cost of £5 per person

To book, please go to this link: https://booking.ecb.co.uk/d/88q5dw

A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR CRICKET OFFICIAL VOLUNTEERS

I have been asked to help source volunteers with cricket experience for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The positions we are looking to fill are:

• Team Liaison Officers
• Match Official Liaison Officers
• Sport Information Volunteers

There are at least 13 positions to fill and you are considered to be great candidates for the roles. There are also likely to be some support roles for groundsmen that may be of interest to some of you.

WHAT IS INVOLVED? The role descriptions are currently being written and I shall share them with you as soon as possible. In essence, the roles are to support the Match Officials/Teams to ensure that they have everything they need to help the matches be played smoothly and to schedule.

WHERE IS IT? All matches will be at the County Ground, Edgbaston, with morning and evening start times. Training will take place at the Foundation Ground with practice at local ground(s).

WHEN IS IT? The volunteer roles are not full time but you would need to be available from July 26^th to August 8^th 2022 inclusive. You will need to be flexible as the amount of time required on any given day will vary.

WHAT ABOUT EXPENSES? No expenses will be available but you will be able to watch, for free, any matches that your Match Official/Team is playing subject to carrying out the duties of your role. No driving is required and you will have free use of public transport.

WHO SHOULD APPLY?  Applicants will need to be reliable, well-organised but flexible in their approach, have a good knowledge of cricket officiating and have excellent inter-personal skills.

HOW DO I APPLY?  You need to apply, registering your interest, using the volunteer application portal on the B2022 website and, when required, enter the Sport Specialist Volunteer Code SPT-CKT. You can drop out of the process at any time should you not wish to proceed.

N.B. You must apply no later than Tuesday 17^th August 2021 at 7pm for your application to be considered for selection.

Warwickshire County ACO is not directly involved in selecting candidates but let me know if you have any questions not covered above and I shall endeavour to get answers for you. I hope many of you will apply as the opportunity to contribute to such an important cricket event is unlikely to happen again.

David Bird

Chairman

Warwickshire County ACO

WCACO member Sue Redfern has been appointed to umpire the Women’s Test Match between England and India at the County Ground, Bristol. The match is played on 16 – 19 June. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports Cricket from 10:30am each day.

We have received the following information from Martin Gentle, Interim Head of ACO & Membership Service Manager:

The ECB has now updated its guidance for organised cricket activity following the announcement by the UK Government on Monday to move to step 3 of the roadmap out of lockdown. You can read the  updated guidance here: https://resources.ecb.co.uk/ecb/document/2021/05/13/bb725594-cf9f-40e6-8889-886ddb87ef9b/Recreational-Cricket-COVID-Guidance-in-England-Step-3-May.pdf

The main headlines under Step 3 guidance are as follows:

• On-field Activities: All on-field restrictions remain as previously communicated
• Changing rooms: can open where it is safe to do so but social distancing and other mitigation measures must be observed, including restrictions on capacity limits.
• Hospitality: Clubhouses and facilities that serve food and drink can open. At Step 3, both indoor and outdoor hospitality will be permitted. The provision of food and beverage should be as per government guidance on hospitality settings
• Teas: Teas can now by served at clubs where this can be done safely and in compliance with government guidance on hospitality settings.
• Spectators: Spectators are permitted at both public and private venues. Spectators must observe social distancing and legal gathering size limits (groups of up to 30 outdoors).
• Travel: Car sharing is permitted at Step 3 for sport in accordance with the government guidance for safer travel.
• Scoreboxes Both scorers can now sit in a scorebox providing the scorebox is large enough to allow social distancing between the scorers.

Please note these changes apply to England only and are effective from Monday May 17^th. Any updates for Wales will be advised in due course.

Please note also that each club will be making its own decision as to whether they feel they can safely provide changing facilities and/or teas. No doubt this type of information will be communicated locally but you should be aware that there maybe clubs/leagues who decide not to change the arrangements that are in place currently. 

The relaxation of the guidance about spectators means that umpire boundary observations are now permitted and I will be advising the CDOs and RDOs in a separate email.

It would appear that we are about to make another step on the road to normality and I am particularly looking forward to the resumption of teas!

Martin Gentle
Interim Head of ACO & Membership Service Manager (ECBACO)
England & Wales Cricket Board