Perfect Pitch!

Collaborative Canterbury Event, Groundos’ Gathering & Kent ACO New Umpire Day Is A Sunny Success

The invited guests of the Kent Association of Cricket Officials (ACO) joined the Groundos for welcoming teas and coffees – with obligatory biscuits – at 10am in the Cornwallis Suite where the Kent League Umpire Panel Chairman, Martin Seguss, gave a brief introduction and welcome before everyone headed out on to the ground to look at the square and hear from Kent’s Head of Grounds, Adrian Llong.

After an introduction to the day’s match pitch and a discussion of markings, the prospective umpires headed to the Frank Woolley Stand where Martin Seguss and National Pathway Umpire, Mel Juniper, led a great presentation on the basics of officiating.

Back outside, Adrian was joined by two of his team, Steve Martin and Riley Nicholson, who collectively answered questions on rolling, irrigation and scarification before moving on to give a valuable step-by-step demonstration of how to repair bowlers’ footmarks. This vital and often overlooked skill both increases the safety for bowlers whilst also allowing pitches with light wear to accommodate extra games.

Meanwhile, in the Woolley Stand Control Room and in keeping with the spirit of the day, the new umpire presentations were underway and they featured ample opportunities for questions to be asked enabling dynamic discussions to take place ranging from the laws to how best to get in to umpiring.
It was great to see such enthusiasm and high engagement from everyone involved and the day has already resulted in new umpires starting their journeys and others reengaging with their own which is a fantastic result!

For the groundos, this event marked the first countywide get-together in over three years and it was brilliant to see so many people from so many clubs making the effort to come together and make the event such a success. It will hopefully not be very long until the next one.

If you’d like to find out more about cricket umpiring or scoring, the Kent ACO would love to hear from you.

Similarly, if you’re interested in getting in to or finding more about Grounds Management, contact James Moss at Kent Cricket.