Simon Taufel has designed an online accreditation course that he hopes will plug gaps in umpires’ training, development, and benchmarking. The online course will give a more practical approach to umpiring rather than the traditional approach.
The course went live on Tuesday and offers three levels of accreditation: introductory, Level 1, and Level 2. It is accessible to anyone, meaning a layperson, wanting to become an umpire, can access it, as well as umpires at all levels who want to top up their skills and knowledge base.
Simon Taufel is regarded as one of the most respected umpires. He has written the entire course material and has created the program in association with the Dubai-based ICC Cricket Academy.
The online training program is more practical: Simon Taufel
The online training, according to Taufel, is based on a more practical approach to umpiring rather than the typical “dry method” of learning the Cricket Laws.
On the practical nature of the course, the former umpire said, “The traditional approach in introducing umpires to cricket has simply been to teach them the Laws of Cricket. That has limited value, and it is a very dry approach to inducting new people to umpiring.
“What I would like to stress is, that we’ve really focused on more video content. And trying to make it easier for people to watch and listen, rather than just reading lots of text.”
“What we’re launching on the ICC Academy is an umpire’s accreditation programme the place we will benchmark some core competencies that we’re on the lookout for in cricket umpires at completely different ranges,”
Taufel said to ESPNcricinfo.
“So, we’ve three programs that we’ve developed/are growing. The primary one is an introduction to umpiring, which is geared toward mums and dads and faculty lecturers, and folks WHO can be new to umpiring.
“Attempt to train them the position of the umpire, what to do on MATCHDAY, what to do in getting ready for a cricket match and learn how to get them by their first expertise of being a cricket umpire,”
Simon Taufel added.
Taufel, who retired from international cricket in 2012 after winning the ICC’s Umpire of the Year award many times, is still a powerful figure in the game’s officiating community. He claimed that, unlike coaching, umpiring lacked a standardized evaluation method.
According to him, the ICC and member boards might tailor this online service to their own needs. It could also assist governing bodies in allocating more staff and resources to make umpiring a more important cog in cricket growth, which is now lacking in numerous nations.
