Young Officials
The most prestigious fixture we appoint our young umpires to is the week-long
ECB/English Schools Cricket Associations (ESCA) Bunbury Festival. The Bunbury
Festival brings together the best under-15 cricketers in the country to play a variety
of shorter formats. We spoke to two of the young umpires selected for the festival
about their journey into umpiring and their route to the Bunbury Festival.
these with other officials and talk
through real on-field situations to
learn from others’ experiences.
‘Having passed the Level 1, I decided
to get involved with ECB ACOs Young
Officials scheme. The scheme really
helped me find my feet as a newly
qualified young official. The scheme
set me up with a mentor in my early
days, which was a massive help, and it
was really nice to have someone
experienced to turn to whilst I was
new. The support you get is great –
there are annual conferences which
keep you up to date with anything
new and seminars that help with your
own professional development. They
are also a great chance to meet other
Young Officials from around the
country when we all come together,
and you always end up building new
friendships. If you are young enough
to get involved with the scheme then
you should definitely do it! The
support is there to help you progress,
and some of the fixtures you could be
appointed to are pretty special.
‘I really think it’s great to get these
opportunities that weren’t there
several years back, but it’s then about
being grateful for that opportunity
and making the most of it, especially
when the right people are watching.
You also get some great feedback
which can only help you develop
further and become a better umpire.
Although a large chunk of us may be
umpires, there are also great
opportunities available for any scorer
members as well, so all I can say is…
come and join the team and get
involved!
Ben Peverall
Ben Peverall
‘Umpiring started for me whilst I was
still playing, I played Second XI cricket
for Cheddar CC which I always really
enjoyed. It was amateur league cricket,
self-officiated, which gave me the
opportunity to do something different.
I used to enjoy umpiring whilst I wasn’t
batting; I’ve always wondered why
wouldn’t you want to watch the game
you love from the best seat in the
house? It’s much more exciting than
being sat on the boundary. I decided
to sit the Level 1 course in the
off-season, to keep involved in cricket
16
in the darker months and to learn
more about the game and get some
credibility behind me. It didn’t take me
long to realise I could be a better
umpire than I was a cricketer!
‘The Level 1 course itself is great for
learning the Laws of Cricket, and the
responsibilities and expectations of an
umpire, but Level 1A and above really
taught me more about best practice
and field-craft technique, which are
great for development. These courses
were more interactive and helped me
to think about how I’d deal with
specific scenarios, as well as giving me
the opportunity to discuss and debate
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‘I have had a number of highlights in
my short umpiring career, but the
standout has to be umpiring some of
Somerset’s three-day pre-season
warm-up matches earlier this year,
versus Gloucestershire and Lancashire.
To have been stood out in the middle
with international cricketers such as
Marcus Trescothick, Chris Rogers and
Jimmy Anderson was quite surreal,
but extremely special. It was really
reassuring how quickly I adapted and
felt comfortable out in the middle, and
all in all it was a few days which I will
never forget, no matter which
direction my umpiring career may go.
Opportunities such as this are in a