Why do most umpires start their international career past the age of 40?
I am 54 and have had poor eyesight for ten years, but up until that fateful day of decline my eyes were great.
I’ve also found that with failing eyesight goes the ability to concentrate on something for long periods.
The two longest-serving umpires of all time were Steve Bucknor, who retired aged 63 after 128 Tests, having began his career as a Test umpire aged 43, and Rudi Koetzen, who also began at 43, officiated 108 Tests and retired aged 61.
The ICC currently has 12 umpires. The youngest is Richard Kettleborough who is 41 and began his international career aged 39. The oldest is Steve Davis at 62 who began his international aged 45.
Of the 12 umpires only four started their international before the age of 40. Among these are the likes of Bill Bowden, now aged 51, who began his international career aged 32 in ODIs but interestingly waited five years to be promoted to a Test umpire aged 37.
Also there is former Test cricketer Aleem Dar, now aged 46, who is the most capped at the moment with 89 Tests and also started aged 32.
Let’s look at Australian Paul Reiffel. Reiffel played 35 Tests for Australia between 1992-98 and had a batting and bowling average of 27. He retired from first-class cricket in 2002 aged 36.
He became a first-class cricket umpire in 2004 and two years ago, after an eight-year apprenticeship, became an international umpire. Having played at the highest level, I would naively assume that being fast tracked like Dar would be a sensible idea.
As I was watching umpire Marais Erasmus lately, I felt compelled to check his history. He began his international career four years ago and has now umpired 29 Tests. He is 50 years of age.
Eyesight is the most important asset a cricket umpire has, so why should they start their international careers when this commodity is failing?
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