Swiss Federation Of Cricket Umpires & Scorers (swissFOCUS)

The Swiss Federation Of Umpires & Scorers (sFOCUS), is a subcommittee functioning under the auspices of Cricket Switzerland.

The Swiss Federation of Cricket Umpires & Scorers (sFOCUS) was constituted in June 2001, its objectives being to promote and develop Cricket Umpiring and Scoring in Switzerland, and to attain and maintain recognized standards of Cricket Umpiring and Scoring.

In 2024, Cricket Switzerland underwent an organizational restructuration resulting in the merging of sFOCUS into the framework of competitions. sFOCUS now functions as a subcommittee under the Director of Competitions.

The committee is responsible for training umpires and scorers to officiate in all the official matches organized by Cricket Switzerland including the International matches hosted by Cricket Switzerland.

Currently Cricket Switzerland contains around 200 umpires and they are classified into three categories based on the education courses they have completed:

Requirements to become an umpire in Switzerland

Any individual who has one of the following certifications (these are minimum required qualifications) is eligible to officiate in CS senior men’s competitions:

S FOCUS Introduction Course
ECB-ACO Stage 1 Certified
ECB-ACO Stage 2 Certified
ECB- ACO Level 1 Certified
ICC Level 1 Fully Certified.
Any Level Higher than those listed above. Certification to be submitted.

Starting 2023, Cricket Switzerland has adopted the ICC umpiring pathway and starting 2024, umpires will be trained in the ICC education pathway.

To attain ICC Level 1 certification, the participant will first have to had completed an ICC umpiring foundation course on the ICC education platform (edapp) followed by completion of ICC Level 1 online course. This will be followed by a two-day classroom course with the master tutors and upon successful completion, the participant will be accredited with ICC Level 1 certification.

You can become part of ICC education program by registering for the courses here: https://www.edapp.com/icc/

Please mark Switzerland as the country in edapp.

Membership

Every team participating in senior domestic competition is obliged to registed four qualified umpires with sFOCUS. These umpires are required to travel as sFOCUS neutral umpires to officiate a minimal number of games.

It is also a requirement for home team hosting the game to supply a club scorer at every game.

Committee

Office

Manager Cricket Officials (Chair)

Pathway and Development Manager

Finance Manager

Allocations Manager

Name

Mr. Jay Singh

Mr. Alex Mackay

Mr. Krishnavarahan Adivarahan

Mr. Vaishakha Parvathiah

If you have any question regarding umpiring please reach out to us: [email protected]

If you have questions about allocation of umpires reach out to use: [email protected]

Umpiring in Senior Cricket

The following are the guidelines on who can become an umpire to officiate in a senior competition:

The lower age limit for any umpire to independently officiate in a CS senior men’s competition is 18 years.
Umpiring courses will be available through sFOCUS for everyone who has attained the age of 16 years. It is advised that at this age, the individual should officiate in junior competitions to gain experience.
If however, a club is compelled to send in an U18 umpire then such an umpire will have to officiate in the presence of a senior adult umpire (min ECB-ACO Stage 2 qualified or ICC Level 1 completed). This will ensure any delicate situation can be handled by the senior umpire and the junior umpire can learn on-field umpiring crafts.

sFOCUS Organisational Structure – Click For Document

Match Fees & Reimbursements for Umpires in Switzerland

All registered & qualified umpires may claim the following benefits after completing a minimum of 100 overs in the given season :

Travel expenses: supported by travel information and receipts / tickets. If no public transportation is convenient/ available travel by car will be reimbursed at CHF0.40 per kilometre. In both instances, travel reimbursement will be capped at 75 CHF.
Match fees reimbursed at:
40 overs: 50 CHF
20 overs: 25 CHF
10 overs: 20 CHF
No lunch fees for T10 or T20 matches. For 40 over matches, should the home team not provide lunches, umpires may submit a claim supported by receipt(s) for any lunch purchased, capped at CHF20 per day.
All above benefits should be consolidated on the sFOCUS claims form (see Cricket Switzerland website for download) and submitted towards the end of the season (i.e. when claimants umpiring duties are finished) to Krishna Varahan [email protected] for review and settlement.
Kits: umpire kit may be requested by email to [email protected] confirming size of kit required (i.e S, M, L, XL, 2XL) and the postal address to which the kit should be forwarded.”