A former Kent and England player, Martin Saggers, was added to the ECB’s (England and Wales Cricket Board) list of reserve first-class umpires for the coming season. Along with Saggers, the Board also inducted Paul Baldwin to the reserve list as the main list remained unchanged.
Saggers had earlier attained his umpiring qualifications in 2004-05 while he retired from playing cricket in early 2009. Since attaining his qualifications, Saggers stood for a few matches while also playing cricket but post-retirement, he wants to gain full-fledged responsibilities as an umpire. On the other hand, Baldwin is associated with the ICC Associate and Affiliates as a member since 2005 when the association initiated. He was trained as an umpire in Germany at the ICC-Europe region before returning to England in 2009 where his performance earned him a place in the reserve list.
The ECB umpires’ manager, Chris Kelly announced the matter, “We are pleased to welcome Martin and Paul onto the reserve list, which increases the number of umpires available at this level. There are now plenty of opportunities for them to demonstrate their officiating skills within our domestic game and to aspire to being at the forefront of officiating the sport.”
The regional development manager at the ICC-Europe also congratulated Baldwin on hearing about his selection, “He has stood in a significant number of ICC European and global matches and tournaments, and his experience was duly acknowledged when he was selected on the ICC Associate and Affiliate International panel in 2005. It is great credit to Paul’s commitment to the programme that he has been selected on the ECB first-class reserve list.”