'I said no to bribes' Former Test Umpire Tells of Phone Calls

Former Barbadian cricket umpire Lloyd Barker was offered bribes while officiating outside of the Caribbean.

Barker, who did not name any countries or figures, told Nationsport that he received such calls in the middle of the night while he was in his hotel room. Thinking they were crank calls, he simply put down the phone.

This, he said, was before the days of match referees.

The 56-year-old teacher went on to say that on other occasions suggestions and hints were made from people you least think would approach you.

Barker, who on his retirement in 1997 said he was going to miss umpiring, yesterday said in a telephone conversation from his St. Philip home that, in the aftermath of the Hansie Cronje match-fixing admission, he was happy he was no longer an umpire.

Several South African umpires recently admitted to being offered money while the president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, Dr. Ali Bacher, said he had evidence of umpires who took money.

I would hate to be involved in this sham because that is what it is. Nothing is surprising to me anymore, Barker said, disparagingly labelling One-Day cricket a lottery.

The bespectacled and diminutive figure, who was respected by players throughout the world, said he was not surprised at the constant allegations following the Cronje affair. Who does not hear of the rumours? he rhetorically asked.

So long as they do not directly involve you, you do not bother. I am not at all surprised.

As an umpire, you tend to stay away, especially when in a strange country, from things of that nature.

Barker umpired in 29 Tests and 37 One-Day Internationals from 1984 to 1997. He admitted that the captain and the umpire were people who were well-positioned to change the outcome of a match.

However, it is unlikely that an umpire could be bought because once an umpire has reached a certain level, he takes training seriously, and it is unlikely that he will compromise his integrity by accepting bribes, he said.

But Barker said what many people didn't realise was that remuneration was small depending on the country you were officiating in, and people with money knew that, particulary in the sub-continent.

I remembered umpiring in a match with an umpire from an Asian country, and while he was walking out with me on the last day, he said: `I was going to finish with this. What I am getting for the whole of this match was less than you [Barker] are getting for a whole day.'