Western Union cricketers registered online

Mike Stanger reports on the introduction of a new online player registration system that could be used throughout Scotland if its success is confirmed in its first season within the Western District Cricket Union's competitions...

Scotland's national league has had a system of player registration in operation for a number of years, with a high degree of success in stamping out abuses. But it was always going to be more difficult for the volunteer officials of the feeder leagues to control such matters, as there is always going to be more coming and going of players at the lower levels.

So it will be interesting to follow the impact of the new player registration system which has been created for the Western Union from this season, following a rash of dodgy cross-club player appearances in various competitions in recent years. And, it should be noted, the new system will be applied to all competitions, leagues and cups, within the extensive Western Union empire.

The driving force in this instance has been the 'Player Registration Facilitator' Eric Young, who has spent his winter compiling a web-based system, with the help and advice of sundry friends from the banking IT world. What they have jointly produced has been fully 'pen-tested' ('pen' is for 'penetration') to minimise any loopholes through which hackers might undermine the edifice.

Remarkably, it is all very user-friendly, and was highly acclaimed at the Western Union's annual pre-season EGM held recently. A central feature of the system is that club officials themselves upload the required information to the central database, through the password-protected online facility that can be operated by up to three nominated people from each club.

With just a few straggling clubs to round up, and handfuls of late entries being dealt with on a daily basis, Eric Young has now registered over 1,000 players, with a photo-id system that promises to hold water in any difficult circumstances that might arise.

The photographs of each adult player, along with the player's name, date of birth and registration number, are available to view online (see image) to up to three officials of each club, along with members of the WDCU committee.

Behind this simple idea lies a more detailed database of confidential information available in full to only two people - Eric himself and Jim Murphy, who represents the Union's league management committee. The information can also be aggregated to produce some fascinating statistics - such as the age range of the players, from teenage to over 70, with an average age of 31!

So far as the team captains are concerned, all that is required is that they exchange team lists before the start of each match, whether or not there are appointed umpires. If any unregistered player is found to have played, the offending side is subject to sanctions. So the message for rule-dodgers is pretty unmistakeable, while the registration solution is a far easier route to legitimacy.

Eric Young says: "During the process of creating the database, I obtained points of view, listened to concerns about data protection and security of the website. Having taken on board these, I believe it’s important that the very sensitive data I’ve collected for over 1000 players is restricted to as few people as possible."

If the system works as well as expected, the Western Union will hopefully be spared most of the diversions of disciplinary action and consequent appeal procedures that take up too much administrative time during a busy season. And the system will be made available to other feeder leagues - and maybe even the new national league itself - from next season.

Let's hope all the action is now on the field of play, with completely fair, open and above-board information and intentions for all teams to be judged by.