WELL the season has finally finished, apart from the 40-over final, places have been allocated for the new two divisional set-up for next year and competition winners are finalised.

This season we knew when it was Saturday, just by opening the curtains in the morning.

Grey skies and drizzle seemed to be the order of the day which led to quite a few washouts or delayed starts.

The new umpires' directive with regards to fitness of the ground seemed to cause some clubs concern and others saw sense and reached an agreement with the umpires.

There have been a few hitches along the way with teams playing out of sequence and shortage of available umpires and scorers but we got through the season with the cooperation of clubs and captains.

But not without a few anxious moments as to where teams were playing and when and who could help us out to umpire.

The end of the season always brings major decisions like: "Do I carry on playing for another year or is it time to hang up my boots? Do I stand in matches for one more year? Do I score next season or do I want to play?”

Some people have already made their choices.

It would be nice to think some of those who are hanging up their boots will not be lost to the game and perhaps try something else.

Why not umpiring? We do need former players to think about taking up the role of an umpire.

It really is the next best thing to playing and has the best view in the house.

The Bolton Cricket league Umpires and Scorers' Association (BCLU&SA) provides training through the Association of Cricket Officials (ACO) and courses will be run in the new year so keep an eye out in The Bolton News for details in January.

What do umpires do in the winter? Well, some will chill out earning a welcome rest, some will attend refresher courses or some will take a higher-level course to further their development.

As for me, I assist with the umpires' training courses and train scorers, helping them in their desire to progress to a higher level or just learning the art of scoring.

The ACO have regular meetings for cricket lovers at Unsworth CC on the first Thursday of every month starting at 7.45pm, from October to April.

That is a good way of meeting umpires and scorers from other leagues and discussing how they deal with different situations as well as quizzes and guest speakers. Just turn up on the night if you are interested.

Winter well everyone and hopefully, once the season gets underway in 2017, you will enjoy reading this column again.