Ever since cricket grew from an 18th-century game to a fully fledged sport in Hambledon, the role of the scorer has been integral to the proceedings.

However, the fraternity of scorers, who now use computers rather than carving notches into wooden boards to record ball-by-ball coverage for posterity, believe they are being treated as second-class citizens by cricketing authorities.

So strongly do they feel after their treatment — or lack of it — at the recent World Twenty20 in England that they are even talking about forming their own trade union.

Several months after the tournament ended, some of the 25 scorers claim they are still waiting to be paid their £93 match fee and others found that they had to queue with temporary catering staff for accreditation to get into the Brit Oval.

Their desire for recognition has resulted in a paper that will go before David Richardson, the general manager of the ICC, to consider their complaints.

David Kendix, who advises the ICC on scoring and sits on its cricket committee, said: “I have put forward to the general manager ways of more efficient accreditation such as formal letters of appointment, that provision has to be made for their meals and have drawn attention to MCC that there was not great clarity over whether the ECB or the ground authority were providing the budget for the scorers.”

Keith Booth, who has scored for Surrey for 15 years as well as in nearly 100 international matches, spent 90 minutes queueing for accreditation in the Montgomery Hall near the Alec Stewart Gate before he was given a pass. “People seeking work were given quite a grilling and I was asked to show my passport, which I am not in the habit of carrying around,” he said. “I reached the scorers’ box not long before the first ball. In the break between matches, one look at the length of the queue meant we could not contemplate using our meal vouchers, but fortunately the dressing-room attendant nicked some tea for us from the players’ dining room.

“No one was aware that Ireland and Scotland would be accompanied by scorers until they actually turned up. They had not been informed that scorers were being provided by the ECB and/or the host venue. It is the kind of scenario one might expect at a club Sunday third XI fixture; one would assume that at international level, officials would be exempt from this maladministration.”

The ICC asked the ECB to appoint scorers, who in turn approached the host grounds — the Oval, Lord’s and Trent Bridge — to allocate individuals. An ECB spokesman said: “The instructions were clear. More than 12,000 people were accredited and each scorer had to invoice the host club. They have either already been paid or are in the process of being paid. Keith Booth knows exactly what the processes are for accreditation for internationals and it appears he did not follow the instructions.”

The Association of Cricket Scorers is not a trade union. Its members, by and large pensioners, some of whom played first-class cricket, rely on the goodwill of their employers. The late Jim Souter, the Worcestershire scorer, received expenses and, in lieu of a salary, an arrangement whereby his wife would be provided with accommodation and meals when the club played at a seaside venue.

Only in recent times has the position attained a certain glamour. Lord Rees-Mogg graduated from being the keeper of the scorebook in Peter May’s time at Charterhouse to keeper of The Times. Bill Frindall was Test Match Special’s “bearded wonder”.

One suggestion is to peg payment to a percentage of a capped player’s salary — perhaps a third or a half of £30,000-plus a season — for computerisation and the introduction of Duckworth/Lewis have meant scoring has become more professional.

“Scorers have always been the poor relations,” Booth said. “Forming a trades union is a possibility.”