By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada – Only three positions were up for grabs when the Scarborough Cricket Umpires Association (SCUA) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Number 42 Police Division here on Saturday. Incumbents Bisham Singh, Nazam Ally and Mathew Francis were returned unopposed as vice-president, assistant secretary and treasurer respectively. Based on the constitution of the SCUA, the other posts– those of president and secretary– were not contested this time around, meaning that Albert Ramcharran and Azad Khan remained the president and secretary respectively.

The disciplinary committee comprises Bisham Singh, Ashook Brijcoomar, Vish Jadunauth, Frederick Halley and Nazam Ally.

The SCUA also took the opportunity to hand out certificates and extend congratulations to those members who were successful at various levels of the Canadian Cricket Umpires Association (CCUA) examinations over the past year.

The successful umpires were Kanta Maharaj (Level Three), Waheed Ali (Level Two), Ganesh “Dharmo” Gangadin (Level Two) and Gerard De Fry (Level One).
In his charge to members, president Ramcharran disclosed that, based on reports, umpires who are officiating under the aegis of the SCUA have been doing a fantastic job despite a few challenges, chief among them some members “defecting” after undergoing intensive training by the entity. He urged them to do as much as possible to serve the SCUA, which has been expending money towards their training.

Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) president, Shiv Persaud, who was a special guest at the meeting, also commended the umpires for the fine job they have been doing over the past few years, pointing out that they have been few complaints.
Persaud called on the umpires to continue to conduct themselves in a highly professional manner, to always take control of the games they are officiating, understand the rules and be firm in their decision-making.
Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) vice-president, Terry Mathura, also praised the umpires for their untiring and thankless services while urging them to pay stricter attention to the match cards which have been a sore point over the years.

The SCUA is currently gearing for the commencement of the 2019 season, which is scheduled to get underway on Saturday, May 11, with matches in the SCA while the OSCL season starts later in the same month. Towards this end, there are ongoing weekend seminars being conducted by secretary Khan who is urging members and those aspiring to be umpires to attend.