The Association of Cricket Officials (ACO) is an organisation set up to represent and support

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

officials, especially umpires and scorers. It operates under the auspices of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and is often referred to as the "ECB ACO" or similar. Current membership (as of March 2015) is "near 8,000".

Formation

The ACO was formed on 1 January 2008 as a result of members of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers (ACU&S) having voted in favour of their organisation amalgamating with the ECB Officials Association (ECB OA). When the association was formed, an Interim Board was set up to get the new organisation rolling.

Roger Knight Roger David Verdon Knight (born 6 September 1946) is an English administrator, cricketer and schoolmaster. He was awarded the OBE in 2007. He is an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and was President of the club from ...

was appointed as Chairman of the Interim Board, and has remained the ACO chairman since.

Membership

The association has the following membership categories, with respective subscription rates, as of March 2015: *Full member: £30 direct debit / £32 cheque *Associate member: £15 / £17 *Young official or "junior member" (25 & under): £15 / £17 *EC member: £30 / £32 *Overseas member: £15 / £17 Full, associate and junior memberships are for persons resident in England and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

; EC membership is for those otherwise living in the European Union (and the Crown dependencies), and overseas membership is for remaining places in the world. Full, junior and EC members are those who are "active" in officiating in cricket – the association provides appropriate insurance cover as standard to these members (hence the higher subscription fees). Members officiate across the cricket spectrum from village cricket to

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

, including

women's cricket Women's cricket is the form of the team sport of cricket when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries around the world and 108 national teams participate internationally. 11 of them have WTest and WODI ...

. Full and junior members (aged 16 and over) must be certified by the Disclosure and Barring Service if active in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

County Associations

For each ECB County Board there is an attached county ACO association. Members of the ACO residing in England and Wales are also a member of one of these county associations, typically the one where they live or are active in. Counties are then grouped into four regions (Midlands, London & East, South & West, and North), which are used largely as a forum for the county associations and to represent them on the national (England & Wales) ACO Board. Wales has a single ECB cricket board (called

Cricket Wales Cricket Wales ( cy, Criced Cymru) is the national governing body of cricket in Wales. It is an umbrella partnership body comprising the Welsh Cricket Association The Welsh Cricket Association (WCA) (founded 1969) is the governing body of We ...

) and therefore a single ACO association, which is also the (fifth) regional body.

Education programme

A new structure of cricket umpiring and scoring qualifications has now been put into place and the ACO provides training and examinations for these. Separate pathways (through the levels of qualifications) exist for umpires and scorers. Entrants to the pathways do not have to be ACO members, but to progress beyond Level 1 membership is a requirement. Old umpiring qualifications issued by the ACU&S will be recognised as follows by the ACO: *GL6 – Level 1 *GL5 – Level 2 Current courses are as follows: A new education structure for both umpires and scorers is currently being phased in.

Board

The association's Board as of 2014 consists of: *Chairman:

*Special Executive Officer: Nick Cousins *one representative from each of the five regions – **Midlands: Peter Mitchell (Deputy chairman) **London & East: Sid Poole **South & West: Les Clemenson **North: Philip Radcliffe **Wales: Steve Davies *a representative from ICC Europe: Nick Pink *

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

Universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

manager at the MCC: Fraser Stewart *the managing director of ECB Cricket Partnerships: Mike Gatting *ECB umpires' manager: Chris Kelly * first-class umpires representative:

Neil Bainton Neil Laurence Bainton (born 2 October 1970) is an English cricket umpire. He was born in Romford, London in 1970. Bainton was appointed to the list of full-time first-class umpires in late 2005, having officiated his first first-class match in 2 ...

*the chairman of ACCS: Andrew Hignell *an independent member: Janie Frampton The Board has the following sub-committees: *Education *Member Services *Scorers *Performance & Development *Appointments & Grading Further notable officers of the association are: *Finance & Project Officer: Ben Francis reasurer*Executive Administrator: Saira Baker ecretary

Official merchandise

The famous

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

-based cricket company ''

Duncan Fearnley Charles Duncan Fearnley (born 12 April 1940), more commonly known as Duncan Fearnley, is a former first-class cricketer who, after retirement as a player, became a producer of cricket bats. Fearnley is also the great uncle of British Olympic gym ...

'' manufactures and retails clothing and accessories exclusively for the ECB ACO.ECB ACO shop
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Offices

The association is registered at the ECB's head offices at

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

(Marylebone, Middlesex), but most administrative activity occurs at the ECB's offices at

Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England. It is home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club and its T20 team Birmingham Bears. Edgbaston has ...

(Birmingham, Warwickshire).

External links

ECB – Association of Cricket Officials
official website

References

{{Cricket in England Cricket umpiring Scoring (cricket) Cricket umpiring associations Cricket administration in England Cricket administration in Wales Organisations based in Birmingham, West Midlands 2008 establishments in the United Kingdom Sports organizations established in 2008