Who's the worst umpire on the ICC elite panel?

[Richard]

I don't think total matches played has anything to do with it. Going by that criteria, Barry Richards was not one of the greatest batsmen of all time and Steve Bucknor is the King of umpires.

Richards played 335 other First-Class matches, y'know - if he'd not played them he'd not be held in that much esteem, because you can't on the evidence of 4 Test-matches, even if you do average 72.57.
And I never said that longevity = greatness (though Bucknor 3 years ago was about as good as they come if your name's not Dickie Bird or Frank Chester), just that without some longevity you can't have greatness.
And I think Jeremy Lloyds is a very fine Umpire, but until he stands in some more matches we can't really judge his calibre.

 

[Richard]

Best International Umpire I Have Seen: Peter Willey

You never saw a Test-match before 1997, then?
Because while Willey is good, he's nothing on our Harold.

 

[Swervy]

You never saw a Test-match before 1997, then?
Because while Willey is good, he's nothing on our Harold.

did you see many matches before 1997 then Richard

 

[Richard]

Yes, pretty much all home Tests between 1992 and 1996.
Not that I needed to - long as I saw a single game it'd be enough for him to be the best I ever saw.
Reading his autobiographies and countless other works praising his contribution to cricket have filled-in the rest.

 

[Swervy]

Yes, pretty much all home Tests between 1992 and 1996.
Not that I needed to - long as I saw a single game it'd be enough for him to be the best I ever saw.
Reading his autobiographies and countless other works praising his contribution to cricket have filled-in the rest.

mmm.his autobiographies sometimes tend to stray into the realms of Yorkshire man telling fairly humourous yet repetitive stories about how he dealt with quirky little things on the field of play..wouldnt go to much into them to figure outhow good an umpire he was.

he was a good umpire,in fact yes, a very good umpire, however he made mistakes like everyone else..he was however a very well liked umpire and person (mostly due to his never ending commitment to the game and slightly odd personality) which makes a world of difference to how he was regarded as an umpire..its a bit of a case of people looking back and going 'ahhh, the good old days of Dickie Bird..those were the days..blah blah'

 

[sledger]

Darryl Harper.

to be honest i would say that he is one of the best.

 

[luckyeddie]

Sid Buller did the game a great service.

He wasn't right in all cases, but he did more than anyone to focus minds and eyes on the chuckers who were destroying the game at the end of the 1950's.

 

[Richard]

mmm.his autobiographies sometimes tend to stray into the realms of Yorkshire man telling fairly humourous yet repetitive stories about how he dealt with quirky little things on the field of play..wouldnt go to much into them to figure outhow good an umpire he was.

he was a good umpire,in fact yes, a very good umpire, however he made mistakes like everyone else..he was however a very well liked umpire and person (mostly due to his never ending commitment to the game and slightly odd personality) which makes a world of difference to how he was regarded as an umpire..its a bit of a case of people looking back and going 'ahhh, the good old days of Dickie Bird..those were the days..blah blah'

Of course he made mistakes - everyone who stands in 66 Tests and 69 ODIs will make stacks of mistakes.
Fact is, though, he made fewer mistakes than even the best of the rest such as Taufel and Dar, and not only did he do that, he also knew how to handle a game of cricket and as I've said countless times, an Umpire is even more important as an authority figure than as an arbitrator, and yet he managed to combine authority and colloquial style brilliantly, as pretty much no-one else has done to such a standard.

 

[Richard]

Sid Buller did the game a great service.

He wasn't right in all cases, but he did more than anyone to focus minds and eyes on the chuckers who were destroying the game at the end of the 1950's.

That'll be Syd Buller.
Echoing the achievements of another Australian who settled in England of 50 years previously, another time when chuckers were destroying the game.
Whereas Buller dealt with Meckiff and contemporaries, Jim Phillips dealt with Mold and contemporaries.

 

[Craig]

How about SK Bansal in this match? and some of his dodgy decisions. No wonder he hasn't done oen since.

Anyway Russell Tiffin was/is perhaps the worst I have seen.

 

[luckyeddie]

That'll be Syd Buller.

From one pedant to another...

that's the fellow.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Speaking of umpires, Aleem Dar has travelled back to PAK as his wife has had a kiddie, so one B.Bowden will take his place at Edgbaston this week. Fun and frolics aplenty then, and hopefully some good decisions to boot (fingers crossed).

 

[luckyeddie]

(fingers crossed).

THAT one means "I see a cloud on the horizon and my light-meter's battery appears to be on the blink. I also unexpectedly saw Doris Hickinbottom earlier in the day - I believe that she has purchased a new wiffle-bat so I expect armadillo-related problems from the fourth day onwards if the batting side don't ask for the heavy roller."

 

[Pedro Delgado]

THAT one means "I see a cloud on the horizon and my light-meter's battery appears to be on the blink. I also unexpectedly saw Doris Hickinbottom earlier in the day - I believe that she has purchased a new wiffle-bat so I expect armadillo-related problems from the fourth day onwards if the batting side don't ask for the heavy roller."

Tres bien monsieur.

 

[luckyeddie]

Tres bien monsieur.

On reflection, it shows just how little I really do know about modern umpiring techniques.

I just looked the signal up in "The Observer Book Of Prat Kiwi Umpires" and there's no mention of armadillos at all.

It's a pangolin.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

<in best Johners voice> Oh LE do stop it!.

 

[SquidAU]

Asoka De Silva.....couldn't give a proper LBW anytime in his career.

 

[Hoggy31]

Asoka De Silva.....couldn't give a proper LBW anytime in his career.

Yeh..

Top post

 

[luckyeddie]

Yeh..

Top post

You're hard to impress, I can tell.

 

[Buddhmaster]

You're hard to impress, I can tell.

Who do you think you are, questioning Squiddy?