ICC launches first-ever umpire education course

Dubai: The ICC on Monday launched an unique education course for its umpires, named the ICC Umpire Foundation Certificate.

It is an entry-level course and will focus on basic fundamentals of umpiring that would allow the new umpires to gain knowledge about the sport before heading on to officiate matches at the club level.

The course will be offered online and would be free of cost. It happens to be a part of the ICC Training and Education programme, while further courses, along with the ICC Coaching Course Level 2, will also be launched later this year.

Speaking on this new course, ICC's William Glenwright (General Manager – Development) said, "The release of the ICC Umpire Foundation Certificate represents a landmark moment in the development of the sport. With better access to education courses than ever before, the ICC continues its commitment to improving the playing experience for participants around the world.

"This course complements the other resources we have launched over the last two years to drive a better standard of coaches, umpires and curators in member nations," he said.

"By training a global workforce of Master Educators, we are able to ensure that every ICC Member has the tools necessary to train a local workforce so that they can deliver the different elements of the ICC Training and Education programme as and when they need to."