Simon Taufel wins ICC Umpire of the Year for fourth year in a row

Simon Taufel, the ICC's Umpire of the Year for 2007 for the fourth year in succession, Johannesburg, September 10, 2007 © Getty Images

Simon Taufel was tonight named as Umpire of the Year for the fourth successive year at the ICC Awards in Johannesburg.

Taufel, who is 36 and from Australia, was voted to this award by the 10 Test captains as well as the eight-man Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees.

Receiving the award, Taufel said: "It's a great honour. For the other nominees Mark Benson, Daryl Harper and Steve Bucknor, I thought they had a great year and it was a pleasure to stand with them.

"It is certainly special and something I don't take for granted. It is a great honour to get this for the fourth time in a row.

"Hopefully it raises the profile for our position in sport and perhaps it encourages young boys and girls or men and women to take up umpiring and that has to be good.

"There is no magic formula, just a lot of hard work and it is important to remember it is a player's game."

Taufel was presented the award by ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed.

Mr Speed said: "On behalf of the ICC I would like to congratulate Simon on this award. He is a brilliant umpire and it is good to see that he is being recognised as such. It is clear that the players and the referees have enormous confidence in him and rightly so.

"He has once again had an outstanding year making decisions in pressure situations all over the world and this award reflects the fact he has got the vast majority of those decisions right.

"Mind you, it should be pointed out that the competition for this award was very tough because all the members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires are generally excellent decision-makers in both ODIs and in the longer form of the game," said Mr Speed.

Taufel beat off strong competition for this award from his colleagues on the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires Daryl Harper, Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson.

Taufel, who made his first-class debut as an umpire in 1994/95, joined the Emirates Elite Panel in 2003. In the voting period of these awards (9 August 2006 to 8 August 2007), Taufel stood in five Tests and 23 ODIs, including an ICC Champions Trophy in India and ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.

The Umpire of the Year was one of 11 individual and team honours handed out during the ICC Awards, presented in association with FICA (the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations).

The event, held at the Sandton Convention Centre, recognises cricket's star performers over a 12-month period. Votes for the Umpire of the Year award were cast a 3-2-1 vote (three votes being the greater value), with the votes tallied to produce a winner.

The trophy, produced by Swarovski, features a crystal cricket ball studded with over 4200 Swarovski crystal chantons, cusped in a hand which extends from an aluminium base. The hand represents the theme of "breaking through" in pursuit of excellence. The trophy features a clear crystal ball, weighs 1.2kg, is 30cm high and 11cm in width.