Scarborough Cricket Umpires Association marks 20th anniversary -Grenadian Matthew Francis certified as level two umpire

By Ravendra Madholall

The Scarborough Cricket Umpires Association (SCUA) celebrated its 20th anniversary with a dinner on Sunday at the Starlite restaurant and bar, where the gathering recognised the commitment and services of its founding members.
President and founder of the association, Guyanese Albert Ramcharran congratulated the members and promised to maintain high standard behind the stumps. He noted that 20 years in service is a great manifestation of commitment by his fellow founding members which include Vish Jadunauth, Deo Samaroo, Bisham Singh, Pete Jadunauth, Fredlewa King and Sonny Bishundeo.
“I think we have an excellent team of officials who [are] always willing to make an impact on the field; they have shown wonderful willingness to be a part of the organisation. I think we have a motto that remains there since the formation of the organisation to be fair and keep supplying qualified and quality umpires,” Ramcharran said.
The SCUA is affiliated with the Canada Cricket Umpires Association and works hand-in-hand to ensure high standard of the game. As with all elite and premier league competitions, umpires from the SCUA are qualified to officiate in all versions of the game too.
“We always want to put out the best on the field and that will help the betterment of the game in all formats; we are also associated with the Ontario Softball Association and that really demonstrated our dedication and commitment to the game (which has seen) players coming from different parts of the world to participate in Canada’s cricket over the past two decades,” Ramcharran indicated.
For instance, a number of West Indies players took part in the premier league including former West Indies opening batsman Ryan Ramdass, St. Lucian and West Indies T20 player Gary Mathurin and another West Indies one-day batsman Guyanese Royston Crandon.
“Today (Sunday) is a special day for us; it is another accomplishment by the association and having players with international exposure coming and playing cricket in Scarborough and by extension Canada gives us the motivation to bring quality umpires and it is mandatory we have qualified umpires with certification from both West Indies and Canada out there,” Ramcharran stated.
Meanwhile, the event also honoured Grenadian-born Matthew Francis, who is the current treasurer of SCUA, and who received his certificate having successfully completed the level two Canada Cricket Umpires Association Exam.
In an invited comment, Francis said the elevation came as no surprise to him.
“I love being an umpire and receiving a certificate and being part of the celebration of SCUA’s 20th anniversary certainly is fantastic; so we are looking forward to have more anniversaries and I think we have a good bunch of guys to keep producing quality umpires on a regular basis,” Francis stated.
Guyanese Deonarine Samaroo was also awarded the West Indies Cricket Umpires Association certificate.