IACUS Conference 2016 at Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan

The Irish Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers met on Saturday last for their annual general meeting and conference.

A record turnout saw 74 umpires and scorers from all corners of the island. Especially welcome was our guest speaker, Alex Wharf from the ECB First Class Umpire Panel.

Presentations on the day included sessions on the experiences of new umpires as they start out, a lively session where the umpires attempted to perform the DLS calculations that scorers make so easy and the experiences and tactics of boundary assessors as they run their beady-eye over umpires in the field.

Cricket Ireland kindly sponsored a keynote speaker and arranged for Alex Wharf to tell us about his journey from player to the ECB First Class panel. In an excellent presentation Alex discussed with the group the challenges that that entailed and the importance of planning and preparation to make the best of the chances available.

IACUS Chairperson Peter Thew presented to the meeting the challenges that need to be addressed to achieve the goals of the Strategic Plan. This is clearly a time of great opportunity but it is not without challenge. In particular thte lack of a clear pathway to the ICC A&A; panel is a concern for umpire development in the future.

Somewhere in the midst of all that the conference somehow found time to hold an AGM. It was as-you-were, with Peter Thew of LCU&SA; was re-elected as Chairman, David Bradley re-elected as Vice Chairman and Noel McCarey returned as Hon Secretary.

Kevin Gallagher IACUS PRO