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Kevin Earl receives Life Membership to ND Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association

A very surprised an emotional Kevin Earl received a rare life membership from the ND Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association at their Annual Meeting on Sunday (3 August 2014).

The life membership recognized the immense contribution that Kevin has made to umpiring in Northern Districts over a long period. ND panel and Bay of Plenty umpire Colin Elstob said “Kevin has and continues to have a major influence on umpiring in our region. It is no coincidence that on Kevin’s watch we have seen a number of ND umpires elevated to the NZC National Umpiring panel”.

In his youth, a passion for rugby took hold of Kevin’s major sporting ambitions - however he did find time to play for the Matamata College First XI and club cricket while at Massey University. Following his retirement from the rugby playing fields he took up the whistle as a rugby referee, where he progressed to officiating at provincial level.

Following retirement from rugby refereeing, he was drawn back to cricket as a manager of his son’s age group teams. A byproduct of his new administration role, was the call to umpire at the ND age-group tournaments. When his son left home for university, Kevin continued to umpire in the Hamilton and Thames Valley regions before shifting to Tauranga over a decade ago

With Peter Wright’s return to Auckland in the mid 2000s, Kevin Earl picked up the reigns of the Bay of Plenty umpiring administration. Under the guidance of Kevin Earl, the Bay of Plenty Cricket Umpire’s Association set a number of objectives. The initial focus was on recruiting and, more importantly, retaining umpires.

A major retention tool was the creation of clear and transparent pathways for Bay of Plenty umpires to earn promotion to higher honours. In addition a formal training and coaching programme was put in place, along with regular umpires’ exchanges with the Hamilton, Waikato Valley and Counties Manukau Cricket Umpire’s Association.