Cricket is a game that inspires millions of people throughout the world. There are a lot of people who actually live for the game of cricket. Decision making is one of the toughest task in the game. With the onset of newer technologies, there are a lot of controversies and methods being suggested every day. But the real fact goes to the thing called umpiring which is the profession which gives great respect, if done correctly. There have been a lot of umpires in the game of cricket but only a few of them have gained respect in doing so. Some of the most famous umpires from around the world are:
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10. Ian Gould
Ian Gould was an umpire from England who was popularly known as a Gunner. Not because of the skills that he possessed during a game of cricket but because of the fact that he played for the English club, Arsenal. This paved the way for the name. The most famous controversy that Gould is famous for is giving Sachin Tendulkar out when he was on 99 in the year 2007. But ever since that event, he has been good to the game and never has given a faulty decision that was so apparent.
9. Tony Hill
Tony Hill’s full name was Antony Lloyd Hill but he was known in the cricketing circuit as Tony Hill. His first official umpiring stint came on in the year 1998 and ever since that he has improved his quality as an umpire. In the year 2009, Tony was selected as a part of ICC’s elite panel of umpires which is the highest honour that an umpire can get.
8. Daryl Harper
Daryl John Harper is an umpire from Australia and he is the first umpire from Australia to go into the ICC’s Elite Panel of umpires. He started his career in the year 1983 and it went on till the year 2011. The fact that he had to retire from the international circuit was due to the fact that his umpiring went on to hit an all-time low with his decisions being scrutinised by others in the circuit.
7. Steve Bucknor
Steve Anthony Bucknor was perhaps known for his style of adjudging a batsman out. His decisions very known to be extremely precise until his career end when his decisions in a test match between India and Australia went awry. He was kept out of the international circuit due to this and then he came back for a short stint before he announced his retirement. Bucknor was a football umpire early in his career and then moved into Cricket when he was 45 years old.
6. Aleem Dar
Aleem Dar started umpiring for the international circuit when he was very young, at an age of 30, when others would play cricket. He debuted in the year 2000, in a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. AT present, he is the most successful umpire in the international circuit. There was a time when the DRS system was being considered. Aleem Dar took down the decision by giving 15 consecutive decisions, thereby stating the fact that machines can’t replace humans.
5. Billy Bowden
Billy is probably known to be the wittiest and the friendliest umpires in the international circuit. He was known for his friendly nature and he often indulged in friendly chats with the players in the field, when the game was on. He was also known for the crooked finger decision announcing style, which went on to become a symbolic character to his umpiring later on.
4. Rudi Koertzen
Rudi was born in South Africa in the year 1949. He started his career in the early years. He started his early career by breaking into the international curriculum in the year 1992 in a match between India and South Africa. He was known for his slow death motion to give a batsman out. He had a long career with him being the only person to have officiated 200 international ODI matches.
3. Simon Taufel
Simon James Arthur Taufel, was born in the year 1971 in New South Wales, Australia. He was the first umpire to take home five consecutive umpire of the year awards. He started his career in the year 1999 and ended it soon after the T20 world cup in the year 2012. He later took the role of Umpire Performance and Training Manager in the same year.
2. David Shepherd
David is one of the world’s most known for umpires. He was born in the year 1940 and he started umpiring the in the year 1981. He started umpiring in the international circuit in the year 1983, when the world cup happened. He was lucky to have officiated the world cup finals thrice in 1999, 2003 and 2007.
1. Dickie Bird
Dennis Bird was popularly known as Dickie Bird in the international arena. After dropping out of school, he worked in a coal mine soon after that before choosing a career in Cricket umpiring. He was the coach of several umpires whom we know in the modern day. The man was immense to bring about a revolution in the field of umpiring and thus he was given a guard of honour before he retired from international circuit in the year 1996.