Retired Steve Bucknor praised

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq praised the consistency and example set by Steve Bucknor on Monday after cricket’s most seasoned umpire stood in his 128th and last Test — South Africa’s innings win over top-ranked Australia in Cape Town.“It was an absolute privilege to play in matches he umpired,” Inzamam said. “I always respected his decision-making, man-management skills and above all, his humble and friendly attitude.”Inzamam retired from international cricket in 2007 after scoring 8,820 runs in 120 Test matches and 11,739 from 378 One-day Internationals. “I first met Steve during the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and it was the time when I was trying to cement my place in that multi-talented Pakistan team,” Inzamam said in a statement released by the International Cricket Council.“The journey since then with Steve has been fabulous and the more he stood in our matches the better I got to know him.” Inzamam hoped that 62-year-old West Indian would pass on his experience to the up-and-coming umpires. “I also know he was an inspiration to many young umpires who took up umpiring with him as their role model,” he said.“I sincerely hope he keeps his association with this great game and passes on his rich experience and knowledge to the umpires and continues to play the mentor’s role.” Bucknor is the most experienced umpire to date in Test cricket, with 29 more Test matches than South Africa’s Rudi Koertzen. Koertzen is the leading umpire in ODIs with 195 compared with Bucknor’s 179.Bucknor has been umpiring at international level since March 1989 when he took charge of the One-day International between the West Indies and India at the Antigua Recreation Ground. His first Test, between the same opponents, in his native Jamaica, started just over a month later, on April 28.Since then Bucknor has umpired five consecutive World Cup finals since 1992. Bucknor lingered briefly in the middle of the ground to pray and then embarked on a final lap of the ground at Cape Town when South Africa defeated Australia in the third Test on Sunday.Since then, administrators, colleagues and former players have all paid tribute to Bucknor. Former West Indies captain and coach Clive Lloyd described Bucknor as an honest and dedicated umpire. “Things that come to mind about him are his honesty and hard-working attitude,” said Lloyd. Bucknor was a high school teacher and a qualified football referee before becoming part of the ICC’s elite umpire’s panel in 1993. The quiet but assured Bucknor had an unblemished umpiring career until confusion over the World Cup tournament regulations led to the 2007 final finishing in the dark at Barbados.He was also removed from the Test series between Australia and India in January last year, at India’s behest, after some contentious decisions in the pivotal second Test at Sydney. Bucknor recently lamented that decision by the ICC, saying his ratio of correct calls was still very high in the match.Bucknor’s colleague Koertzen said it would be tough to fill the gap on the ICC’s elite panel of umpires. “It is a huge loss for us as a panel with him leaving,” Koertzen said. “It was the same when David Shepherd left too, you just can’t make up for experience. I have the utmost respect for Steve.”