Full Name

David John Constant

Born

November 09, 1941, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire

Age

82y 131d

Nicknames

Connie

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Slow Left arm Orthodox

RELATIONS

(father-in-law)

Other

Umpire

David Constant was a talented schoolboy cricketer who abandoned his ambitions as a player after spells with Kent and Leicestershire to become an umpire, joining the first-class list at the age of 27 in 1969 after retiring as a player the previous September.

From there, he immediately established a good reputation and in 1971, aged 29, he was elevated to the Test panel, standing against Pakistan at Headingley. From there he became an ever present on the Test panel, an official regarded as firm but fair.

However, in 1982 he fell foul of Pakistan after a contentious decision in the deciding Test, and the Pakistanis objected to him standing on their next tour in 1987 but the ECB refused to back down. Constant was again the target of the tourists' ire in that series as well, but he stood in his last Test in 1988 and only featured in a handful of ODIs before his final match in 2001. But he retained his composure and his reputation on the English circuit.
Martin Williamson

The retirement of David Constant means that county cricket has lost its longest-ever serving umpire; his final season was his 38th on the list. After an indifferent career as a left-hand bat for Kent and Leicestershire, he became a Test umpire when still only 29. And for almost two decades Bird and Constant were accepted as the top two umpires in the English game. But - a sign of things to come - Constant found his career hindered by distrust from Asian teams, harking back to a decision in the Pakistan series of 1982, and he umpired his last Test in 1988, when he was just 46.

He remained highly regarded in England - and very sensitive, taking bad behaviour on the field personally. He was in tears at the end of a fractious 1997 NatWest semi-final between Essex and Glamorgan in which Robert Croft and Mark Ilott squared up to each other.
Angus Fraser, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

David Constant Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAve100s50sCtSt
FC61931415178019.2006330
List A110555.000000

Bowling

FormatMatBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
FC61753611/28-36.002.8875.0-00
List A1000-----000

Umpire & Referee

FormatMatUmpireTV Umpire
Tests41365
ODIs38335
WODIs11-
FC1411392
List A35234111
T20s1919-
Portrait of David Constant

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Test
ODI

Recent Matches of David Constant

Photos of David Constant

Umpire Constant in the  National League, 2001
Barrie Meyer (left) chats with David Constant
David Constant
Dickie Bird and David Constant ponder the conditions
Dickie Bird and David Constant ponder the conditions
Bob Massie bowls John Snow on his way to 16 for 137