IN light of the remarkable success of the 2010 ICC-Africa Regional Umpires Forum, the ICC-Africa regional office hopes to acquire the same success going forward on an annual basis for hosting such an event.From Friday to Sunday, the ICC-Africa regional office will host its' Second Affiliate and Associate Umpire's Forum to be held on the African continent, and the Regional Development Officer, Kassim Suleiman, is excited by the progress the game is making in many parts of the continent.Taiwo Oladunjoye and Kehinde Olanbiwonnu will represent Nigeria at the forum.Suleiman is excited that this year Africa will see the numbers increasing in the A; B and Emerging Panel of Umpires in Africa and at the same time he has accommodated for Scorers Courses to compliment the inflow of additional umpires to keep the balance in check.He says 'the aim of this forum is to broaden the spears of the umpire panels for Africa, as well as to introduce woman umpires into the set-up and at the same time increase the Umpiring knowledge of those currently on our Panel of emerging umpires.'It is anticipated that at the conclusion of the 2011 forum the regional office will have introduced a higher number of male and female umpires into the Africa panel who will have a chance at umpiring the games set to take place in 2012.'According to Suleiman, who is also the chief executive officer of the African Cricket Association (ACA), the ICC-Africa umpire's forum will see a tremendous increase of 30 delegates attending from 17 countries as opposed to last year's 22 from 14 countries.'As per last year's forum, the umpires will all be put through their paces by top level presenters on umpiring techniques and the nuances of tournament umpiring.'Rudi Koetzen; Former South African test umpire, Cyril Mitchley, Karl Hurter and Shahid Wadvalla will present aspects of umpiring, as well as playing conditions and other course material.'There will be special input from local Umpires such as Shaid Wadvalla relating to the umpire evaluation system and other aspects.'He revealed that topics slated for discussion during the forum would range from pre-tournament preparation, the psychology of umpiring, physical preparation for the umpire, umpire methodology, umpiring technique as well as the laws of umpiring and D/L.He added: 'There will be updated material of umpiring that will also be deliberated in this seminar courtesy of Brent Silva of the ICC HQ Umpiring Department.'Umpires will be put on test by umpiring at allocated Eastern Cricket League matches following the forum, whereby they will be expected to implement the recently acquired knowledge, and manage these matches according to their perspective.
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