VCA Umpires and Scorers Association
Fellowship amongst Cricket Umpires and Scorers
THE 2023/24 COMMITTEE
President: Vivek Kumar
Viv joined the CV umpiring panel in the 2014-15 season, having previously been involved with Queensland Cricket Umpiring panel (2012 -2013) and Dandenong District Cricket Association (2010 to 2012) In his early years he Played School and University cricket in India and migrated to Australia for the love of cricket and seeking better work life balance. Since joining our panel he has officiated in over 150 CV matches and has had the honour of officiating in three Grand Finals.
Viv is married to Amrutha and they have a son Hritwaugh (named after Viv’s idol- Steve Waugh)
Outside of Cricket, he is employed with Ricoh Australia and has extensive experience in Customer Relations and Support.
This year, Viv takes on the role of the VCAUSA President - a huge honour - and he is looking to continue the positive work of the VCAUSA representing all our Umpires
Vice President: Jamie Wyatt
Jamie joined the VCAUSA and CV Umpiring Panel in season 2000-01 after umpiring in the Sub-District Cricket Association the prior season. After three seasons, and a change of work, Jamie ‘retired’ from umpiring and returned to playing, spending the next 11 seasons playing in the Bendigo and Mercantile Cricket Associations. In season 2014-15, Jamie re- joined the CV Panel and has now umpired 233 Premier matches across all grades. Jamie has been an enthusiastic participant in the Easter Crockett Shield matches, as 12th man in 2001 to playing in 2015, 2017 and 2019. This is Jamie’s second season on the VCAUSA committee. He is married to Rebecca and has three children
Secretary: Gerry Schembri
Gerry joined the CV umpires’ panel in 2006 and is hoping to umpire his 300th premier match this season. Prior to joining the CV Panel, Gerry spent one season umpiring in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association after a twenty-year absence from the game due to family and business commitments. Gerry is a life member of the VCAUSA and has served on the Committee of Management in various roles since 2009. Gerry is also passionate about the biennial Easter Event with SACUSA and has been the Easter convenor since 2011. After 42 years of working as an accountant, he retired in July 2022 and now has more time for cricket, travel and other interests. Gerry is married to Sylvie and has two adult children. The 2023-24 season will again present plenty of challenges for our Association and I’m confident that our new committee of management is able and willing to represent our members in the season ahead.
Treasurer: Jeff Diamond-Smith
Jeff's love affair with cricket started a long time ago. remembering waking up in the middle of the night and hiding under the bed to listen to the ABC broadcast of either the Ashes or the West Indies tour, on his transistor radio. Jeff had an underwhelming career on the field as a right-hand, opening batsman and a left-arm Chinaman bowler. and made a couple of centuries but J Grade on the mats isn’t exactly the MCG! When family commitments and a bad back curtailed a floundering career, Jeff decided that he wanted to stay involved and took up umpiring. He spent 11 seasons with the VTCA officiating in 10 Grand Finals and met such luminaries such as Paul Jensen and Bob Parry. At the end of the 2006-7 season Jeff decided to further his umpiring career and joined the Cricket Victoria panel and he is still enjoying it 16 years later. He gets great support from his wife, Leanne, and three children, who are all now in their 20s, and who know that their father won’t be around the house in Summer on a Saturday and the occasional Sunday. Upon retirement, Jeff took up volunteer work, under the guidance of the late VCAUSA President Alan McCarthy, and tour guiding at the MCG. He is now hoping to use his experience to assist on the Committee of Management of the VCAUSA.
Committee Member: Dan Bomford
Dan joined the CV umpires panel in 1979 and is one of three panel members to have exceeded 600 Premier (or higher level) matches, the majority in Premier Firsts. Dan has served the Association in the roles of Secretary (ten seasons, 1985-6 to 1987-8 and 2010-11 to 2016-17), Treasurer (12 seasons, 1983-84, 1984-85 and 1993-94 to 2002-03), Vice-President (five seasons, 2005-06 to 2009-10) and has been a Committee Member for the past six seasons. He was awarded Life Membership of the Association in 1989. Dan and wife Bernadette enjoy their family life with three children and seven grandchildren and somehow he finds the time for his other loves, exercising and running half marathons, and goal umpiring during the “off-season.”
Committee Member: Rochelle Rodrigues
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Committee Member: Damian Herft
Damian joined the CV Umpiring Panel in 1999 and has served on the VCAUSA Committee since 2017. He umpired a total of 398 matches, 298 of them in Premier Cricket and 239 of those in 1st Grade. With 200+ 1st XI matches, Damian is a member of the prestigious CV200 Club. Prior to joining the CV Umpiring Panel, Damian umpired one season in Sub-District Cricket and one in Dandenong District Cricket Association and before taking on umpiring, Damian also played Community Cricket for 20 seasons, primarily with Moonee Ponds Cricket Club, where he was elected to Life Membership in 1992. Damian retired from on-field umpiring at the end of season 2016-17 and was a Cricket Australia Match Referee from 2017-2020, overseeing 52 Cricket Australia matches. Damian was also the CV State Umpire Development Coach and Umpire Selector for 5 years until November 2024. Damian previously worked for Telstra for 38 years and now works for Cricket Australia with the National Teams. Damian has been on the VCAUSA Committee since 2017, and he is now primarily responsible for the maintenance of the VCAUSA Website. He enjoys sunset photography and self-help Microsoft Excel, and is married to Caroline with one adult son
Committee Member: Patrick Mathews
Patrick joined the Premier Umpiring Panel in 2021 and has umpired over fifty matches in Victorian Premier Cricket, including a Men’s 2ndXI and Women’s 1st XI Grand Final, along with receiving the Men’s 2ndXI Umpire of the Year Award in his first season. Patrick joined the VCAUSA in 2022 and is serving his first year as a General Committee Member for the VCAUSA in the 2024/25 season. Before joining Victorian Premier Cricket, Patrick began his cricket umpiring journey in the Ringwood District Cricket Association (RDCA) in 2014/15, followed by a further six seasons at the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association (VSDCA) until the end of the 2020/21 season. During the winter months, Patrick is also an Australian Football Field Umpire, which, as his Dad helpfully points out, means he is a maggot all twelve months of the year! Patrick has umpired and coached in the Yarra Junior Football League (YJFL) and, more recently, in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), which included four seasons on the Victorian Amateur Football Association Umpires Association (VAFAUA) Committee, three of which as Secretary and VAFA Umpire Sub-Committee delegate. Patrick has recently finished a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and is working towards becoming a Barrister
Committee Member: Josh Hallam
Traveling down from Ballarat, Josh joined the CV panel in the 2018-19 season and has officiated in 75 games across the Fourths through Seconds. He has also stood in a third XI Grand Final. In addition to umpiring, Josh has just commenced his 14th season on his local cricket club committee and he is also a part of the BCA Female Cricket Subcommittee & team manager for his club’s women’s team. Beyond Cricket, Josh is engaged to Sharra, his partner of 12+ years. Josh works for MaxiTRANS, a truck trailer manufacturing company based out of Ballarat. Josh has been a member of the VCAUSA since he commenced with CV & after representing the Vics in Adelaide this year he is very excited to welcome both the VCAUSA & SACUSA to his home club in Ballarat for Easter 2025.
Committee Member: Robert Pryde
Rob is in his second year on the Premier panel after 3 years umpiring in the TDCA (Traralgon District Cricket Association). After moving from Traralgon to Melbourne with his wife Tara, Rob chose to challenge his umpiring abilities and join the panel and thoroughly enjoyed his first year and as a member of the VCAUSA. He joins the committee this year as well trying his hand as the editor of law 43
Committee Member: Jay Blanchard Lewis
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Scorer Representative: Mike Ringham
Mike started scoring at school in England in 1947. He had a short break in 1954 when he became the Chef’s Writer on the R.M.S. ”Himalaya”. In 1955 he met a passenger on a blind date, got engaged on their fifth date and migrated to Melbourne and married his sweetheart, Margaret, in 1956. They had two daughters, Joanne, an oncology nurse at Rosebud Hospital, has two sons, Matthews 20 and Adam 19 and Susan , who is a dental assistant in Melbourne. He joined the Essendon Cricket Club as 2nd XI scorer in 1956 and became the 1st XI scorer in 1960 as well as joined the First-class panel in 1964. A move to the M.C.C. took place in 1975 where Mike took over the 1st XI as well as the duties of Club Statistician, which he has continued for the past 48 years. Mike stood down from scoring in 1991 due to promotion as Schedule Planning Manager at Ansett Airlines. He retired 1996 due to Margaret’s ill health and was able to take up his pen again. Another break from Scoring came in 2010 when they moved to Rosebud, where Margaret passed away in 2017. The MCC Beaumaris complex opened in 2018 and Mike was able to resume his scoring with the 3rd and 4th XI’s and last year he transferred to the Women’s 2nd XI and the Marg. Jennings Cup Teams. Since he resumed scoring in 1956, Mike has scored over 1100 matches, including 40 Test Matches and travelled to England for the 2nd and 3rd World Cup Competitions as well as the 1985 Ashes Tour. Mike is hoping to make some progress with his ambition of Scorer training during his time on the VCAUSA Committee.