1. Name
That association will be called The Bradford Premier League Match Officials Association.
2. Definitions:
a. Member:
All active umpiring members must be members of ECBACO, maintain an enhanced DBS disclosure certificate and be paid up members of the Match Officials Association for that year.
All active scorer members of the Association will be paid up members of the Match Officials Association for that year.
b. Associate Member:
Associate Membership shall be opened to anyone who supports the objectives of the Bradford Premier League, Match Officials Association, but who does not wish to be appointed to officiate in local league games. Associate members do NOT have the right to vote on any items at either an AGM or EGM.
c. Junior Member:
Junior membership will be restricted to persons under the age of eighteen (18) years. Upon a member’s 18th birthday he/she then becomes a full member. Junior members do NOT have the right to vote on any items at either an AGM or EGM.
d. Life Member:
Life membership may be granted to any person in accordance with clause ten (10). Life members shall not pay any membership fees but shall have all rights and privileges of Active members
e. Guest Membership:
Shall be afforded to any qualified (holding relevant qualification, valid DBS & ECBACO membership) umpire not permanently residing in the Bradford Premier Cricket League catchment area (i.e. a resident from another county, or from overseas), who does not qualify for any other category of membership. He/she may be allowed to officiate not more than two (2) games in a cricket season, after which he must decide to become a Member in order to officiate further in the Bradford Premier League. The Executive may, however, waive this requirement if the umpire is of International standing (i.e. a Test Match Umpire). Guest membership does NOT give the individual the right to vote on any items at either an AGM or EGM.
3. The objectives of the association:
4. Membership
An applicant for membership must submit a signed and dated application form to the administrator stating:
Until an applicant is approved for membership, he is not entitled to any of the privileges of the Association.
All rights and interests in the Association and its property cease immediately upon termination of membership by resignation, expulsion or death.
5. Annual subscriptions
The Association’s annual subscription shall be set by the League Management Board. These fees to be paid before the first match of the season. Any member not having paid subscriptions in accordance with this rule shall not be allowed to officiate in the any match under the management of the league until all outstanding dues are paid.
Members Fees: £10 for umpires, £1 for scorers
Associate Members Fees: £10 for umpires, £1 for scorers
Junior Membership fees: £1
Club Umpires Fees: £1
These fees have been set until 2023 season at this level. After that they are to be set by the Executive committee in conjunction with the League Treasurer.
If an application for new membership is received after the half way point of the playing season the new membership joining fee for that person will be reduced by 50% as compared to the amount requested of members for a full year.
Membership of the Association in no way guarantees any number of appointments to games, or to any particular level of umpiring.
Any member who fails in respect of payment of fees and dues in line with the Associations requirements shall immediately lose the rights to attend, address members and vote at meetings and shall lose all other privileges provided by the Association until all such dues are paid in full.
6. Finance
The funds collected from subscriptions will be managed by the League Treasurer.
All existing and future funds from the redundant Bradford Premier League Umpires Association will be consolidated in the Derek Shuttleworth Memorial Fund for the sole purpose of training of umpires and scorers. Three trustees will be appointed from the membership to work along with the league treasurer to ensure the funds are spent appropriately and will report annually to members at the Annual General Meeting.
7. Officers & Executive Committee
The Association shall be governed by the following Officers consisting of:
Supported by Executive Committee consisting of
The Executive Committee may co-opt up to two members with skills to enhance the body.
Note: The position of Chairman is elected by the Bradford Premier Leagues Management Board.
The position of Administrator is elected by the members, but must be approved by the Bradford Premier Leagues Management Board, before taking up office.
Also supported by an Appointments Sub-Committee with the following duties
The appointments sub-committee shall be formed, to set a structure in place for selection of umpires to the relevant standard / grade of cricket, including onto the Premier Divisions umpire panel.
Criteria for inclusion to be used will be:
a) Experience of individual
b) Feedback from captains, colleagues, mentors and league officials
c) Qualifications, e.g., does the individual comply with ECBACO /Match Officials Association requirements to officiate at that grade of cricket.
d) Commitment level – e.g. is the candidate fulfilling the requirements for that grade of cricket?
The sub-committee will meet prior to start of season to determine initial placement. The sub-committee will meet a third and two thirds of the way through the season to determine what promotion and relegation of the umpire panels is required. This will be done via continual assessment of the umpire’s performance throughout the season.
Appointments Sub-Committee to consist of
a) Both Appointment Officers
b) Chairman
c) President
d) Participation Officer
Note: The position of Chairman will be approved by the Bradford Premier League Management Board.
Any member may allow their name to go forward as Chairman. Any nominations for Chairman must be ratified by the Bradford Premier League Management Board prior to an election taking place
The position of Administrator is elected by the members but must be approved by the Bradford Premier Leagues Management Board, before taking up office.
8. President
This is an honorary position and the president will be entitled to attend Executive Committee meetings as a non-voting member. The position of Association President shall be by invitation from the Executive Committee and if accepted, shall be announced at that year’s AGM. The term of office is for life, or until the recipient of the position decides to stand down.
9. Vice-Presidents
The Executive Committee shall have power to invite persons to be Life Vice-Presidents. Such appointments shall only be made at the Executive Meeting prior to the Annual General Meeting and shall be announced at that meeting.
10. Life Membership
This will be awarded to any member completing 15 years of service to the League (service in either the Bradford League or the Central Yorkshire League count as qualifying years). Only fully paid up membership of the association counts in regards to achieving life membership. The 15 years membership does not have to be consecutive years membership.
11. Annual General Meeting
The Officers, except for the Chairman and Administrator who are appointed by the League Management Board, will be elected by the membership bi-annually in rotation at the Annual General Meeting which will be held as soon after the League AGM as possible. Members must be given 14 days’ notice of the meeting by the Administrator and be provided with the agenda for the evening. All votes will be determined by a straight majority. In the event of a tie the meeting chairman will have the casting vote. A quorum of one third of all paid up members will be required for the meeting to proceed.
12. Meetings & Attendance
Meetings - to be held in: January, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, with an AGM in as above
Attendance - Members are required to attend 75% of meetings.
13. Election of Officers
Nominations must be submitted by email to the Administrator by October 31. Any contested position shall be decided by paper ballot at the Annual General Meeting.
14. Alteration to rules
Proposals for alterations to the Rules of the Association shall be made in writing (hard copy or digital) and shall be in the hands of the Administrator by October 31.
15. Extraordinary General Meeting
The Executive Committee may call an Extraordinary Meeting of the Association to discuss and vote on any issue. An EGM can also be called by the Administrator on receipt of a requisition signed by twenty (20) paid up members of the Association. The Administrator must give members 28 days’ notice of any EGM with written details of the proposition to be discussed. A quorum of one third of all the paid-up members will be required for the meeting to proceed. If one isn’t achieved the meeting will be rearranged.
(The term ‘in writing’ is deemed to include, but not be limited to, email, newsletter or by post; supported by publication of materials as appropriate on the Bradford Premier Cricket League (Match Officials Association) websites)
16. Honoraria
These will be paid to the Appointments Officers by the League Management Board who will set the amount annually.
17. Matters not covered in the rules
In case any questions should arise in connection with this Association, which are not dealt within these Rules, the Chairman plus two other members of the Executive Committee shall have full power to deal with them and impose such penalties as they may deem expedient, their decision shall be final and binding on all parties. Matters requiring urgent attention may be dealt with by the chairman and administrator along with one other member of the Executive Committee.
In the event that the required meetings of the association cannot be reasonably / safely held (such as but not limited to pandemics, natural disasters, emergency situations etc) the executive committee are to deal with all issues of the association, until normal conditions prevail and the necessary meetings can be undertaken.
18. Interpretation
The Committee shall be the only authority for the interpretation of these rules and shall have the power to decide on any matter not explicitly covered by them. It is the responsibility of the Committee to ensure that BPLMOA is managed in accordance with its Constitution and Rules.
19. Disciplinary matters
Where a complaint is received about the conduct of a member the following will happen:
The disciplinary procedure, will follow the guidelines of the Bradford Premier League Rule 45, Discipline, Rule 46 Disrepute and Rule 47, Breaches of League Rules
20. Appeals procedure
If any member feels that any penalty or sanction is imposed upon them is unfair, they have the right to appeal. Notice of their intention to appeal must be made in writing to the Administrator within seven days of receipt of the written verdict. Any appeal will be held at the earliest opportunity and be heard by three Executive Committee members not involved in the original decision-making process. The original sanction will not be imposed until after the appeal which will have the right to increase, reduce, vary or remove the sanction. The verdict of the panel will be given verbally at the end of the hearing and confirmed in writing within 48 hours. The decision shall be final and binding on all parties.
The appeals procedure, will follow the guidelines of the Bradford Premier League rule 47, Breaches of League Rules
APPENDIX A
Appointments
Priority of BPL Appointments
Any umpire accepting an appointment shall adhere to the rules in the League Handbook.
At no time shall a member accept an appointment outside Bradford Premier League which would clash with any fixture under the jurisdiction of Bradford Premier League without prior reference to the Appointments Officer’s.
Withdrawing from An Appointment - Any member who is unable to officiate in a match to which he has been appointed will notify one of the Appointments Officer’s immediately he knows of his inability to officiate. Any advice of a member’s unavailability to umpire must be made by way of a person to person phone call to one of the Appointments Officer’s. Emails, Voicemail Messages or SMS text messages withdrawing from an appointment are not permitted. If either of the Appointments Officers are not available to take a telephone call, a voicemail message maybe left, however it is the responsibility of the member in question to continue to follow up with one of the Appointments Officer’ in the event of neither of the Appointments Officer’s not within a three (3) hour period actioning a call back to the member in question to acknowledge the telephone message previously left. Members may be asked to explain their actions to the Executive Committee if found in breach of this clause.
Repeatedly Withdrawing from An Appointment - Should any member fail to officiate in three (3) matches in a season to which he has been appointed and fails to furnish a satisfactory explanation to this Association then he may be asked to justify his ongoing membership to the Executive Committee.
Failure to Show Up For An Appointment - Any member who fails to show up for an appointment without having contacted the appointments officer (prior to 10am on match day) or his umpiring partner (after 10am on match day) will be called to meet with the Executive Committee and maybe subject to disciplinary action as per Section 21. It is the responsibility of the member who was left to stand on his own to report the non-attendance of the other member within 24 hours of the days play being completed.
Appointments to Final Matches - The Appointments officers must present all proposed Finals Match appointments to the Executive Committee for endorsement prior to those appointments being issued to the membership. The best available umpires will be chosen for selection in finals matches based on the Executive Committee’s assessment of all available members for any given round of finals cricket. For a member to be selected for a final’s match, the Executive Committee must be satisfied that he has displayed a level of competency throughout the season both on the field, and has a complete understanding of relevant match playing conditions.
The committee may at its discretion engage activities to test a member’s knowledge of relevant match playing conditions. The Executive committee may also base decisions on a member’s suitability for a final’s appointment on a combination of match observance of each available member, as well as supplied captains’ assessment marks throughout the season.
Appointments for First Year Members - Every effort will be made to appoint any first-year member who is new to umpiring with at least a second-year member for all matches during the season in which a member is deemed to be an inexperienced first year member.
APPENDIX B
Training
Professional Development
The Match Official Association will assist members to improve their skills and reach the desired levels outlined below. Funding is available for training and is to be utilised to upskill the membership through regular refresher sessions and to finance ECB ACO approved training.
To umpire Level 1 Standard Cricket (Premier, Priestley Cup & Division 1 Games) the desired requirement for all umpires, will be:
To umpire Level 2 Standard Cricket (Division 2 & 3 and Jack Hampshire Games) the desired requirement for all umpires, will be:
To umpire Level 3 Standard Games (2nd X1 Cricket) all umpires, will be required to:
APPENDIX C
Dress Code
We require that all our umpires adhere to the existing code in all our matches (League, Priestley Cup, Priestley Shield and Jack Hampshire Cup):
It is a choice for each match umpire whether they wear polo shirt only or a white coat. i.e. One may wear coat and one may wear polo shirt only
Note: If the League obtains a sponsor that provides embossed / corporate branded umpires shirts and coats, these will take precedence over ECB ACO clothing for all games undertaken during the sponsorship period.
It is required for all Level 1 games (Premiership, Priestley Cup & Division 1) that the officials wear the ECB ACO approved garments, being an ECBACO branded shirt and jacket.
For all other games under the banner of the Bradford Premier Cricket League, we encourage the wearing of the ECB ACO approved branded garments are worn if possible, but as a minimum we require a plain white polo shirt (or white shirt) and a plain white umpires coat to be used.
For all games, black or navy trousers, and white footwear are required.
ECB ACO branded coloured clothing can be worn in the two respective T20 competitions, this is a preference not mandatory.
