Monthly Meetings
 

Another Successful Meetings Programme in 2008-2009

The 2008-2009 West Surrey ACU&S meetings season kicked off in October with a visit from Nick Cousins, the ECB ACO Education Manager, who told a packed Guildford CC pavilion about his plans for umpire and scorer training now that ECB has taken over this responsibility from the defunct ACU&S. Such was the interest that the Q&A went on way past 10.30pm: an association record! In November we heard about schools' cricket from Martin Bicknell, ex-Surrey and England and the Director of Cricket at Charterhouse. Members seized the opportunity to put the professional game to rights as well! Martin Bodenham and Neil Bainton were back in December, regaling us with more stories from the frontline in First Class cricket umpiring. In January, we meet John Barclay, ex-Sussex and England and currently Director of Cricket at Arundel Castle. The February AGM saw wholesale changes within the committee, as Roger Croft stood down after four years' excellent service, giving way to Steve Hodge. Jenny Woodage relinquished the treasury (after a few more than four years!), and Vernon Fallows took over. Helen Ross, our Vice-Chair, did not seek re-election, and this post remains vacant. Finally Dale Corstorphine replaced Alan Castree as a general committee member. March saw the association experiment with "in-house" entertainment in the form of Graham Cooper, Mike Brunavs and Trevor Woodage, who hosted a Laws Q&A which went down exceptionally well. Our new Chairman, Steve Hodge, led an Open Forum and Quiz in April.

The committee maintains a policy of inviting guests from cricket communities not only from within Surrey, but across the South East, with wide ranges of expertise and interests (not just umpiring and scoring!) to enlighten and entertain both members and non-members alike. Newcomers are always welcome. Check out the Meetings page for further information.
 

Interesting Speakers Heard During 2007-2008

The West Surrey ACU&S meetings season kicked off in October 2007 with a visit from Paul Bedford, the Chairman of the Surrey Championship.

Paul initiated a lively debate across a well attended meeting that took in topics as diverse as on-field discipline, the role of the Surrey County Cricket Board and the relationship between the ECB and ACU&S. In November, we welcomed ACU&S South East Regional Councillor Lorraine Elgar, who travelled from Kent to tell us about her experiences as a top female umpire in First Class Men's and Women's cricket. December saw First Class Umpires Neil Bainton and Martin Bodenham return to update us on events in the top flight during the 2007 season, and in January we welcomed Mickey Stewart of Surrey and England, attracting a record attendance of 48 cricket enthusiasts. A successful AGM was held in February. Mike Brunavs stood down as Secretary after four years of service, and was succeeded by John White. In March, the Guildford CC pavilion was converted into an art gallery as we were royally entertained by Christina Pierce, a local artist specializing in cricket and working with John Crawley of Hampshire CCC in his benefit year during 2008. Please find examples of her work thumbnailed below, and click on them to visit her website (christinapierce.com).

To round off our meetings' season in April, we heard from Tim Walter and John Milner. Not only are they the captains of Guildford and Godalming CC respectively, but Tim sits on the Surrey Championship committee and John is on the Groundsman's Sub-Committee up at the Oval. These roles allowed them to offer us a unique perspective on club/league cricket in Surrey.

Training

Our umpires and scorers courses in 2008-2009 are now over and unfortunately we cannot take applications for these courses again until the autumn. Please check our site again in the next few weeks as courses to be run in the 2009-2010 winter will be posted on the Training page shortly.

Scoring

Interested in knowing more about how to score a cricket match? Find a useful players' crib sheet here and a blank scoresheet here. This, and other resources, appear on the Links page.

Umpires Cards

Graham Cooper's GC97 match record cards are available. Visit the Small Ads page.

Booksale

Support the Association by making a selection from some rare and out-of-print cricket books we have for sale. Browse the List.

Rules

The Association's Rules can be found here.