Sydney Shires Cricket

Sydney Shires Cricket

Umpires Association

1st Annual Report

HONOUR ROLL 2001 – 2002 SEASON

1st grade Grand Final – Mona Park #1 , AUBURN

LINDFIELD bt SOUTH SYDNEY

Umpires – Bruce Parfett / Stuart Yeend

2nd grade Grand Final – Alan Davidson Oval

WARRINGAH bt BURWOOD

Umpires – Karl Wentzel / Stephen Blomfield

3rd grade Grand Final – Lindfield Oval

AUBURN bt STRATHFIELD

Umpires – Steve Starks / Peter Friend

4th grade Grand Final – Mona Park # 2 , AUBURN

BLACKTOWN bt SOUTH SYDNEY

Umpires – Tom Shiner / Tim Ralston

Frank Gray Shield Under 24’s Grand Final

Mona Park #1 , AUBURN

STRATHFIELD bt BURWOOD

Umpires – Bruce Parfett / Stuart Yeend

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

The first approach to set up a Shires Umpire body occurred during the initial months of the 2000-01 cricket season. It soon became apparent that the concept had the support of the NSW Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association. The first umpires took the field in the Shires Competition in November 2000. For the remainder of the season, between six and eight umpires officiated depending upon availability. During the off season , the Shire clubs bought in and agreed to formally support the establishment of a Shires Umpires Association affiliated with the NSW body. The new Association was finally incorporated in March 2002, starting with a financial grant from the NSWCU&SA.

With support from the NSWCU&SA, the 2001-2002 season started with about 26 umpires on the books and throughout the season all 1st Grade games and most 2nd grade games were played with two qualified umpires officiating. Feedback from the Shire cricket clubs indicates that this was one of their most enjoyable seasons for many years and was due in no small measure to the consistently high standard of the umpiring. For the first time Shire umpires stood in the qualifying , semi finals and the finals in all four grades and the Frank Gray competition. Once again, the participating clubs congratulated the umpires.

Praise for all officiating umpires during 2001-2002 season has been consistent and genuine and was repeated once more at the AGM of the Shires Cricket Executive in June 2002. ALL umpires who stood during this past season should give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well done. Congratulations and thanks ! It was very important that we establish some credibility in this our first full season and you all delivered in spades. Now we must consolidate in the forthcoming season.

A special word of thanks to our colleagues who were not born in Australia. In our first year you guys made a valuable contribution. It is not easy umpiring cricket in Australia if you are relatively new to this country. The culture is very different and managing a cricket match can be quite confronting even when you are thoroughly acquainted with the Rules Of Cricket. If you feel you had difficulties during the season past , attending the Convention in September will give you the opportunity to discuss your experiences with senior umpires in an informal environment. Regardless , we look forward to your comradeship in the coming season.

It is a major objective of this Association to maintain high standards to ensure that members retain the respect of the players. We will establish and retain a close co-operation with the NSWCU&SA and use their training and examination resources to give officiating umpires the status that this will confer. It i9s for this reason that we insist that our members are also members of the NSWCU&SA. I therefore encourage all Shire umpires to attend the convention. This close contact with our senior body will allow free passage between the two Associations for our members who wish to umpire Grade and those umpires officiating in Grade who have lost their desire to travel so far and wish to umpire Shires cricket. This will benefit both Associations and their members.

Finally, I would like to thank the following people for their support of this Association.

Peter Hughes and the NSWCU&SA

Peter Daffen and the Shire cricket clubs

The Executive Committee , and especially

Stephen Blomfield for a mighty job during the year, your organisational and communication skills made our first year the success that it was. Thanks from all of us Stephen !

Peter Turner

President

SECRETARIES REPORT

The initial season where the Shires competition had its own dedicated umpires Association proved to be a huge success in season 2001-02

With only a few months to go before the season was due to kick off there was a meeting held to see if the whole concept would be viable. At this meeting only 6 people showed up and it was thought the concept was doomed. AT this early stage we were thinking we might be lucky to cover 50% of first grade matches each week. A lot of phone calls and a lot of mail outs later it was decided to plough on and see what would transpire.

Its all history now that due to a large number of new umpires wanting to officiate at Sydney district level that the Shires competition benefited from an overflow of umpires that could not get into Grade cricket at their 1st attempt. This benefited Shires to such an extent that just about every first grade game got 2 umpires every match. This wildly exceeded everyones expectations, however , it got even better when the numbers week in week out allowed for on average 4 out of 7 second grade matches getting at least one and more often than not two umpires each round. The number of umpires available each weekend hovered around the twenty to twenty two.

The general feeling amongst Shire Clubs was that this was the best year the competition has had in years as far as the quality of umpiring was concerned. As an ex Shires player for many years I really do have to agree and its possibly the first time I have EVER agreed with some of these guys who over the years have been opponents !

Congratulations to Bruce Parfett who won the Shires umpire of the year. Bruce had an excellent year and was highly regarded by all clubs during the season and the match reports made on him by club captains clearly proved this with some outstanding reports being received. He was duly rewarded with the appointment to the First Grade Final as well as the Frank Gray Under 24’s Final. Congratulations also to Stuart Yeend who partnered Bruce in both of these matches. Both umpires achievements were acknowledged with them both being awarded a medallion on the opening day of the 1st grade Final.

Congratulations to the four winning clubs (1st Grade Lindfield , 2nd Grade Warringah , 3rd Grade Auburn and 4th Grade Blacktown) who all won their respective games from the lower position of the two finalists, surely this could be a first ! The weather was very kind on the final weekend of the season producing two stunningly warm sunny Autumn days.

Congratulations also to the Sth Sydney club who took out the club championship. They won in a very tight finish with the Warringah club. Both clubs had the opportunity in the final round to win the award but Souths just got passed the post first.

Thanks to Peter Daffen from the Shires Sub Committee for all his support in this initial year of Shires Umpires. The executive of Shires Umpires looks forward to working closely with the Shires Sub Committee in the coming seasons to ensure that the competition runs smoothly and effectively.

We face new challenges each year and the coming season is definitely one that we all have to work at both on and off the playing field. We actively encourage our members to choose between applying to umpire in the Shires competition or going on to apply for a position in the Grade Competition. With such a large turnover of members recruitment becomes a vital cog in our wheel so to speak. I want to encourage any member who is staying on in Shires in the coming season to actively promote the Shires competition and try to bring new members to our umpiring ranks.

We have so much to offer to new members and the golden prize of course is that we now control our own destiny. Members who commit to Shires now have the opportunity to umpire in our own semi and grand finals, something that up last season was never allowed. It’s a perfect marketing tool to get new members to join us in the Shires competition.

We hope to hold two or three general meetings during the season so that we can discuss any issues we have during the season. It was fantastic to see the role up at the meeting that was held at the Mascot club in January. A good sign of things to come no doubt.

It is also hoped that umpires performance marks and comments will be sent out in stages during the season. Quite frankly. It was way too much work for me to do all in one hit at the end of the season. Surely it can only be of benefit if umpires can see how they progress through the season rather than get a lump of stats at the end of the summer.

I finally want to thank the two Peters (Hughes & Turner) for helping me out in this my initial year as appointments officer & Secretary. It’s been an eye opener coming straight from the players ranks and hopping over the fence so to speak. I look forward to many more years firing out all those annoying opponents I have played against over the years – Only joking !

I look forward to speaking and umpiring with you all in the coming season.

Stephen Blomfield

Honorary Secretary / Appointments Officer

TREASURERS REPORT 2003-2004

SYDNEY SHIRES CRICKET UMPIRES ASSOCIATION

BALANCE SHEET as at 8.7.02

Income

NSW Cricket Umpires Association 310.00

Expenditure

Credit Union Shares – Opening Of Bank Account 10.00

Trophies & Engraving 70.00

Cheque Book Charge 9.00

Balance as at 8.7.02 221.00

Gordon Smith

Hon Treasurer

END OF SEASON STATISTICS

A number of members were keen to enquire how they rated against other umpires in during the 2001-2002 season. All members were issued with their own personal stats during May. The below list shows a list of average marks from best umpire during the season to the worst. Each members name has been removed from this list. To find out where you rated last season find your particular average mark on the list, count how many places down the list you are and that is your placing. Marks listed in underlined text are members who officiated in less than six matches. The average mark is out of 12

9.85

9.38

9.36

9.25

8.70

8.67

8.57

8.26

8.08

7.83

7.57

7.53

7.50

7.36

7.30

7.27

7.23

------ Average mark 7.2177

7.21

6.95

6.93

6.33

5.82

5.75

5.58

5.50

5.23

4.83

4.50

4.50

The average mark this season was 7.2177 based on a total of 5601 marks being awarded in 776 captains reports.

Members who have yet to request their captains reports comments are asked to contact the Secretary to have these arranged (if required)