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Bangalore: Simon Taufel, who has won the ICC ‘Umpire of the Year’ award on the trot since 2004, epitomises accuracy and consistency, which have earned the Aussie respect from all quarters.
From the young face in the ICC panel at the turn of the century to the most prominent in the Elite Panel, the 38-year-old encapsulates commendable work ethic and dedication. He thrives on strong beliefs like "past performance is no guarantee for future success" and "getting to the top is hard but staying there is even harder".
‘To err is human’ might be the adage frequently used with umpiring but for Taufel, to err is highly uncommon. In Bangalore for the Umpires’ Seminar conducted jointly by Cricket Australia (CA) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Taufel spoke to TOI on various issues related to his profession. Excerpts:
On the impact of T20 cricket
T20 has certainly influenced the work schedule of the umpires. Naturally, if there is more cricket, the umpires have to officiate more. In T20, everything happens fast - whether it is the fielding restriction, the decision-making or the positioning technique. One of the vital changes in the T20s from the umpire’s perspective is on marginal calls, say on wide ball or waist-high full toss. The impact can be huge because the result margin is very close. Here, we become stricter with wides and no-balls and will always try to be consistent because of the huge impact on the result.
Though the T20 has opened up the game to a new audience, particularly the young generation and women due to the faster pace of the game, it has not attracted many youngsters into umpiring. We can have specialist T20 cricketers but an umpire is for all formats of the game.
On the referral system
I believe the ICC has approved "rolling out" the referral system on a series/match basis. I think there is lot of scope for improvement through umpires’ training. The ICC seminar in Dubai after the upcoming Champions Trophy will discuss the issue in detail.
The referrals have brought some positives. The decision-making percentage has increased considerably. The players’ behaviour too has improved in terms of less instances of breach of conduct being reported. But the biggest drawback is the time consumed in the process. Sometimes, technology cannot be utilised with a complete sense of correctness.
On technology’s intrusion
Personally, I am happy involving technology to get more correct decisions. We are not against using technology but about the way of using it. Hotspot is good because there is no prediction or guesswork involved. It is all about WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Give). But one drawback is about the limitations of cameras that can be used. It is not allowed in certain countries because it is basically a military technology and some governments don’t allow the commercial use of it. Super Slow-Mo is good, dependable.
On umpires’ retirement age
I don’t think age is a factor. As far as fitness, work ethic, judgment, consistency and knowledge of the game are satisfactory, age is not a factor in umpiring.
