Albany and Districts Cricket Association are on the lookout for junior umpires for the upcoming season

Albany and Districts Cricket Association is on the hunt for their next wave of cricket umpires ahead of the upcoming season.

The association is looking at getting more juniors involved to umpire the under-14 and under-17 grades on weekends.

To be eligible to umpire an under-14s match you have to be in Year 10 and to umpire an under-17s game you must have completed Year 12.

Adults are eligible to umpire both games but there are certain rules in place for coaches and parents of players.

Umpires will be paid for their time and will have to complete an online course, face-to-face courses and any scheduled trainings.

Square-leg umpires will still be supplied by the fielding team but the search is designed to get more central umpires qualified and officiating.

ADCA committee member Jim Walters confirmed there had already been some interest.

“We will try and get more kids involved in the game besides playing,” he said.

“The kids are a bit more switched on, their eyes and ears are better than some adults.

“They don’t miss anything, they will hear the nicks and see the deviations that a 40-year-old might not.

“We are aiming to have around 10-12 people register, hopefully some people that are just too old to play can still come down and help the juniors out.

“We are just trying to encourage people to come along and help out.

“With this idea, it will mean the batting side coach can stay on the sidelines and actually coach rather than umpire. The efforts of Tim Edmunds have been great throughout everything.”

To register yourself as an umpire, email aca.juniorsub committee@gmail.com and indicate what grade you would be interested in.