About ECB Association of Cricket Officials
The ECB Association of Cricket Officials (ACO) represents scorers and umpires for and on behalf of the national governing body, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
ECB ACO is the membership organisation responsible for the recruitment, training and development of all cricket officials.
We have a separate board that works with the executive to run the association. We work at national, regional and local county level to have a direct link with you as an individual member.
As well as providing a fun, rewarding way to engage with the sport, training as an official is a great way to support the health of the game. You don’t need any previous experience or qualifications – just a willingness to learn. Whatever level you aspire to, whatever pace you wish to learn at, our Education Programme has a pathway for you.
History of ECB ACO
The Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers (commonly known as the ACU&S) was set up in 1953 by the umpire Tom Smith as the Association of Cricket Umpires (the scorers were included in the title several years later). The first chairman was Tom Smith and the first president was Douglas Jardine.
It had a membership exceeding 8,000 in countries all over the world before it was merged with the ECB Officials Association in 2007 to form the ECB Association of Cricket Officials.
Merger
In December 2007 the membership of the ACU&S voted to merge with the England and Wales Cricket Board Officials Association (ECB OA).
This new organisation eventually became the ECB Association of Cricket Officials. Integration with the ECB has raised the profile of umpiring and scoring, provided much needed funds and improved training.
ECB ACO currently stands as the largest group of cricket officials in the world with a near 8,500 strong membership.