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Good Company 2

Here we go again,
Happy as can be,
All good friends and
Jolly good company!
(Popular song)

In How's That? issue 294 - August 2004, Mr Stuart-King wrote, the phrasing somehow suggesting that he had granted an audience: "As Companies House has explained to me at length, the term 'Institute'...."is one of the most sensitive words that the Secretary of State considers. It is normally only allowed to ... professional bodies of the highest standing." The quotation went on to say that an applicant must "have support from the appropriate Governing Body."

The so-called 'Renaissance' document had this on page 11: "An Institute is a rarely-awarded title for a very particular kind of body. Setting one up is neither easy nor quick." Mr Bastable - the ACU&S Media Officer; still! - then repeats what BS-K wrote in August 2004 before sharing with us that "After a good deal of research and hard work, which started in September 2005" - (did he mean August 2004?) - "and included the considerable expense of employing lawyers specialising in particular types of company incorporations," - (Who paid? If it really is just a fall-back position, does that mean ACU&S paid? And if not, why not?) - we are pleased to be able to tell you that, having evidently satisfied the requirements of both the Secretary of State and Companies House, the Institute of Cricket Umpires and Scorers was officially registered on March 10, 2006."

All very heartwarming, of course. And don't you just love that "evidently"? There was just one little thing that kept nagging away at us. That "appropriate Governing Body" which gave its support to ICUS. Who could that have been? Had ECB decided to be magnanimous and help them out, perhaps hoping that they might come in for less criticism in future? Or had MCC stepped into the breach? Sport England, perhaps? It was a mystery and one that allowed us no rest until we knew the answer.

A Freedom of Information Act 2005 enquiry did the trick, after several letters had produced only vague statements from those at Companies House suggesting that such information was confidential. The "appropriate Governing Body" which believed that there was a genuine need for such an Institute and that the field was not already covered by existing bodies was none other than...wait for it...The Northern Ireland Association of Cricket Umpires & Scorers!

So, there you are. All that time, research, hard work, expense, specialist lawyers...and all they could come up with was a sub-area of the second smallest Region of ACU&S as an "appropriate Governing Body". It was news to us that the game is governed from the Province of Northern Ireland, and we imagine that the E&WCB and MCC will be pretty much gobsmacked too, even if our former General Secretary - where was he at the AGM, by the way? We had some questions for him - went there a while back to take up residence with the good Mrs Muir. (Oh, yes. You probably wish to know if NIACU&S got permission from General Council of ACU&S itself - it is just a fallback position, after all - before they wrote. Sorry, afraid not).

Who were the organising geniuses behind this entirely deliberate attempt to mislead those at Companies House, not forgetting the Secretary of State? Let us list them for you - Tony Bastable, Stan Bennett, David Brandon, Dennis Burns, Anthony Farnfield, John Fielden, Peter Freeman, - who was also too busy to get to the AGM, as were Chris Rawson and a number of others - Ken Say and Mick Warren. And let us not forget a certain self-effacing director of the chief shareholder, Community Cricket Holdings Limited, Barrie Stuart-King.

At present (Thursday,15th June), down in Cardiff, officials are having another careful look at this matter. Soon, it may be that Companies House and the Secretary of State will wish to explain, at length, a number of other things to our friends.

Watch this space!