The Association for all Cricket Umpires and Scorers based in Warwickshire
Around 150 WCU&SA members and colleagues from neighbouring counties attended the meeting with ICC officials at Edgbaston on Monday 8th August. The Officials from the Elite ICC panel arrived early and made themselves available to anyone for a chat or photo. It was pleasing to see how frank and down to earth all of them were, mingling with the crowd.
Later, Nick Cousins invited them to the stage and requested that they tell us about their background and current roles. Ranjan Madugalle, the most experience ICC Match Referee, opened the innings followed by the 'Pinch Hitters', as he called them. Ranjan, 52, explained that his role has evolved since 1994, and was not just scrutinising the players, but also evaluating umpires and working with them, along with Captains, Coaches and Managers.
Inspirational Simon Taufel explained how his playing career was curtailed by a back injury at the age of 21 and ended up on an Umpiring course by a coincidence. 
For someone who didn't play First Class cricket, he made amazing progress through the ranks, and within 8 years umpired his first Test match. The rest is history. He won five consecutive ICC Umpire of Year awards between 2004 and 2008. He never wears sunglasses on the pitch because he believes smallest of dust particles on the lens can obscure the vision.
Steve Davis, Rod Tucker and Barry Dudleston also made entertaining speeches.
Unfortunately, the event had to be cut short when news of rioting in Birmingham City centre started filtering through. Security personnel were keen to get all officials back in the hotel in case of blockades.
All in all, it was a memorable evening enjoyed by a large turnout. We all owe a debt of gratitude to ICC, Chris Kelly, Nick Cousins and Mark Gumbley for putting this together.
Mansoor Qureshi
Photographs by Mansoor