Women and girls developing officiating skills
As part of our development of Women and Girls’ cricket in Shropshire, we have been encouraging participants to get involved in officiating.
This involves learning about umpiring and scoring.
In February, Shropshire hosted the first of the new ECB Introduction to Umpiring course which focusses on the basics of umpiring including:
- Understanding the role of the umpire
- Gain a basic understanding of umpiring the game
- Answering appeals and the common methods of dismissal
- How to communicate effectively with all stakeholders in the game
- Judging whether or not it is safe to play
Cricket Shropshire’s Women and Girls’ Officer Katie Rushton said: “We have worked over the last couple of years, during the indoor activity, to provide the Women’s Softball players with an opportunity to officiate – both score and umpire their own games.
“This has proved successful and given many a greater understanding of the game.
“Shropshire Association of Cricket Officials vice-chair and course tutor Tim Barber played a key role in the initial officiating education of the Women’s Softball players.
“Following on from this Tim was keen to encourage some of the ladies to attend the umpiring course.
“On this occasion four females attended, which was fantastic to see.
“They all enjoyed the course, and the hope now is that they feel confident enough to give umpiring a go during the Summer.
“We will continue to work with both Tim Barber and Clair Ecclestone, the scorers representative, to offer Women & Girls across the county the support they need with officiating, opportunities to get involved and build their confidence.”
Anyone interested in finding out more can contact Katie via katie.rushton@shropshirecricketboard.co.uk