Leave decisions to on-field umpires - Bucknor
The record-holding umpire Steve Bucknor has bowed out of Test cricket with an appeal of his own: leave the decision-making in the hands of the on-field officials
Brydon Coverdale in Cape Town
23-Mar-2009

Steve Bucknor knelt on the pitch and offered a prayer after completing an illustrious umpiring career spanning 128 Tests • Getty Images
The record-holding umpire Steve Bucknor has bowed out of Test cricket
with an appeal of his own: leave the decision-making in the hands of
the on-field officials. Bucknor, 62, completed his 128th and final
Test on Sunday, when South Africa wrapped up an innings defeat against
Australia in Cape Town.
The three-Test series was the first time Bucknor had been involved in
the player referral system and there were plenty of tight calls that
the TV umpires were asked to officiate on over the past month. Bucknor
said he had no qualms about experimenting with the system but felt
it should be the standing umpires, not the players, who send decisions
upstairs for review.
"We know when the decisions are tough and marginal - we know," Bucknor
said. "I believe that we are the ones who should be going up there to
say, 'third umpire, have a look at this, it is marginal', because ...
when a team has used its two referrals, that is when they have failed
twice, they have no more.
"So the umpires still can make mistakes and these mistakes could be
costly. I have nothing against the experiments but we know when the
decisions are tight. And rather than having a team not capitalising
... because they have used all their referrals, I hope that later on
it should be the umpires asking rather than the players."
Bucknor said it was a surprising and joyful moment when he walked on
to the field for what would turn out to be his final session of Test
cricket and received a guard of honour from both teams. As he lingered
on the Newlands ground after South Africa's victory late in the day,
the realisation began to kick in that it was the end of a 20-year Test
career.
"There was a sense of sadness walking around the field because I knew
that that was the last time setting foot on a Test field," Bucknor
said. "But not necessarily coming here this morning. I came here this
morning, I came to work and I was prepared to work today and tomorrow.
When it was over, that's when the sadness came in, to know that
there's not going to be any more."
After the South Africans won the game with ten minutes to spare on the
fourth day, Bucknor knelt on the pitch and offered a prayer. It was a
touching moment that highlighted the humility of Bucknor, a devout
Christian who reads from the Bible each morning.
"I was giving thanks," he said. "I'm a believer and I said 'thank-you
Lord, you have taken me through, and it all seems to have gone well'."
No umpire has stood in more Tests than Bucknor and it will take some
time to catch up to him; the next on the list is Rudi Koertzen, who with 99
Tests to his name needs to stand in a further 30 matches to pass
Bucknor. The final international appearances for Bucknor will be
during the ODIs between West Indies and England in Barbados this
Friday and Sunday.
Brydon Coverdale is a staff writer at Cricinfo