CHECKS AND BALANCES

It will be interesting to hear whether the current debate about further Criminal Records Bureau checks for volunteers is to affect club cricket in any way.
From what we read in the national press, folk who offer lifts to youngsters going to/from events may now be required to get CRB certification, just in case they have unsavoury skeletons in the cupboard.
Will this include those who give lifts to young people playing in cricket matches?
Currently, as I understand it, coaches and umpires need CRB clearance - but not players and spectators/officials who offer lifts to boy and girl players.
Press reports quote £60 as the cost of a current CRB check. Certainly, in the case of umpires, there's never been any question of the officials themselves having to cough up the cash. So let's hope that, if cricketing lift-givers are brought into the equation, the authorities, not clubs, will foot the bill.
Surely everyone welcomes moves to preserve the safety of young people in sport, and other walks of life - but the worrying factors with CRB checks are:
1) The amount of time they take to be carried out
2) Defining exactly who needs one, and persuading those who do to apply.
The danger here is people who might help (say by giving lifts) will be put off in the future and just reply, if approached by a team or club, with a polite "Sorry - no" whereas the answer would previously have been a resounding "Yes - no problem."
Parents play a very important role in transporting youngsters to cricket matches, including district and county representative matches, as do club players for ordinary league matches.
Really, for cricket, this could not have come at a better time. For this season is just finishing and we have until next April to sort out what's happening for 2010.
But, as we all know, the wheels of Government often grind slowly.
So what clubs need is clear Government and ECB guidance on whether they need to take any steps to comply. And sooner, rather than later!

The bizarre situation is, as a player, you can shower with, and get changed alongside, youngsters - but once you become an umpire you require an Enhanced (top level) CRB Certificate, even though you will probably never step into a dressing room unannounced, nor remove any more clothing after the match than your umpire's hat and coat. As Charles Dickens once wrote: "The law is an ass!" Perhaps not the most apt quote in this context, but true, nevertheless.

One national newspaper reports: "Parents who regularly ferry groups of children on behalf of sports or social clubs such as the Scouts will have to undergo criminal record checks — or face fines of up to £5,000. They will fall under the scope of the Government's new vetting and barring scheme, which is aimed at stopping paedophiles getting access to children. Failure to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority, the Home Office agency that administers the scheme, could lead to criminal prosecution and a court fine. The clubs themselves also face a £5,000 fine if they use volunteers who have not been cleared. Its creators hope the scheme will reduce the risk of abusers gaining access to children. A Home Office spokesman said informal arrangements between parents to offer lifts would not be covered."