ECC pick Gray for panel of umpires

MARTIN GRAY has joined the elite of European umpires. The 45-year-old Guernseyman has been selected for the European Cricket Council's panel of umpires and will be off to Glasgow in early August to officiate at the ECC Division One and Two Champion-ships.

As an accomplished top-order batsman with Salemites, Gray decided that at the end of last season that he wanted to sacrifice playing to be able to concentrate fully on his umpiring.

'I'm dead chuffed to be selected,' said Gray.

'At the end of the day I love cricket and I was coming to the end of my playing days but I wanted to stay involved. I was playing in a match last year when I realised that I'd rather be umpiring than playing.

'I had had enough of chasing leather around.'

The carpenter is also off to the Belgian port of Antwerp at Easter to attend a seminar of top European umpires to discuss the rules for the August tournament. Guernsey will be competing in the second division contest and they have been drawn in the same group with Germany, Gibraltar and Greece.

Gray was the successful candidate of the three put forward by the Guernsey Association of Umpires and Scorers for the panel. He has already had experience of international cricket having umpired the matches when Guernsey played Namibia and Bermuda in Sussex in June.

'I thoroughly enjoyed them,' said Gray.

'They were a real eye-opener. I got to umpire with different people who have a different take on the game.

'I learned quite a bit about umpiring and a lot about man management as well. It was great to see Guernsey play at that level and come through with credit.

'It was tough but it was great to be out there. It gave me a taste of what's further up the ladder.

'I hope to go the whole hog.'

Gray will shortly be taking his GL4 examination and if successful, he will gain full membership of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers. The president of the Guernsey Cricket Board, David Piesing, hopes that Gray's appointment will encourage others, especially cricketers in their 40s, to take up umpiring.

'Martin's appointment is a great opportunity for him to establish himself at the top level of European umpiring, which could lead to further opportunities all over the world at ICC events,' said Piesing.

'The door is wide open for him and it is clear from the success of other European-based umpires that coming from a country which is outside the group of leading global associate members is not a hurdle if the individual umpire is rated highly enough. He's the perfect age to be starting out on the international umpiring ladder and he'll definitely get the full support of the GCB to fulfil his potential.

'We invited Martin to stand in the high-profile matches against Bermuda and Namibia last year to get a feel for umpiring at a higher level and he did extremely well. Guernsey cricket desperately needs more good umpires to come through and this is a prime example of what opportunities are available.

'It's all too easy for veteran players to continue to play local cricket, albeit at a lower level than at their peak, while they wind down their playing career.

Ideally it will encourage some of those veteran players, and indeed some younger ones as well, to look to umpire at a very high level in preference to playing at a lower level or leaving the game altogether.'