The Hindu : Sport : Bucknor — standing the `Test' of time

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005

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Bucknor — standing the `Test' of time

By Our Special Correspondent

GARDEN OF DELIGHT: Umpire Steve Bucknor, who will stand in his 100th Test at the Eden Gardens. — Photo: S. Subramanium

KOLKATA, MARCH 15. Steve Bucknor will not feature in a Hollywood Western for sure. He would be the slowest draw in the Wild West.

But then, the umpire who might seem to take an eternity before arriving at a decision is on the road to cricketing eternity. When he steps into the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, Bucknor will become the first umpire to officiate in a hundred Tests.

Donning a golf cap, his face sporting a smile, Bucknor said here on Tuesday that the joy of umpiring in four successive World Cup finals was more than featuring in a century of Tests.

"When you umpire for more than ten years, you are bound to figure in a hundred Tests," he said.

On his future plans, the 58-eight-year-old Bucknor, who made his Test debut in the India-West Indies Test of 1988-89 in Jamaica, said his aim was to continue till the 2007 World Cup, which will be held in the Caribbean.

A qualified football referee, who has done the job in a World Cup qualifier, Bucknor said the decisions had to be taken much quicker in soccer. Cricket gives him more time and he has made the most of it.

Speaking highly of David Shepherd's umpiring qualities, he said the Englishman's "simplicity and unassuming nature," made him very special. On his tendency to take his time before ruling a batsman out, he said, "I have to play all those replays in my mind. I have to ask my mind several questions. If I get all the answers, I give the batsman out."

Initially reluctant to refer a decision to the third umpire, Bucknor, subsequently, moved with the times.

Dwelling on his most memorable moment in Tests, Bucknor said, "It happened in an Ashes Test in Australia several years ago. It was a day when I actually stood on the ground for eight and quarter hours. And in the last session, I stood for four and a-quarter hours. The day started half an hour early, there was a half an hour extension, the Englishmen bowled slowly, and then Steve Waugh requested for an half an hour extension."

Asked about the most difficult captain to handle, he said it was former Aussie skipper Steve Waugh. "He wanted what belonged to him." And Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was the easiest captain to deal with, he said. And Bucknor called Sourav Ganguly a tough captain.

On the decline in the standard of West Indian cricket, Bucknor said it saddened him: "It is not a great feeling. It is only good for cricket if all the Test playing nations are strong."

Giving his opinion on sledging, he said, "I don't mind the occasional moment when a bowler and a batsman exchange a word or two and soon they smile at each other and walk away. But it should not be more than that."

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