Arguably the most celebrated umpire of this era, Simon Taufel is relishing his role as the mentor and advisor to the BCCI panel of umpires.
During his illustrious international career stretching from 1999 to 2012, Taufel was named the ICC Umpire of the Year a record five years in succession from 2004.
A former Elite Panel umpire with a formidable reputation, Taufel stood in 74 Tests and 174 ODIs. Now 44, the New South Welshman is busy guiding emerging umpires in different parts of the cricketing world.
Celebrated former ICC Elite Panel umpire Simon Taufel is in Chennai to conduct a seminar for the BCCI panel of umpires. The Hindu caught up with the Australian here on Wednesday for his views.
Can you tell us about the ongoing seminar at the Sri Ramachandra Sports Medicine Centre? Areas you have worked on with Indian umpires.
What we are working on at the moment, in the current workshop, is how we can set high standards. It’s great to be using the facility at the University. With the bio-mechanical facility here, we are helping umpires judge suspect action better. We have really taken a fresh approach to training and coaching by getting our umpires to have opportunities to learn by ‘doing’ rather than presentations and lectures. To its credit, the BCCI has shown a lot of initiative in letting us use the facility in Chennai in a practical way. With the top-end umpires, we are going to be doing some the third umpire simulation work. It’s great to tackle a large group of umpires in India. There are 19 new umpires we are inducting into the BCCI system that have gone through Level two. That’s exciting for them. We want to use the experience of the 110 umpires in the group with whom they can work with. We are looking to build a stronger team. Obviously being part of the IPL programme is a great opportunity for the domestic umpires.
The umpires get a real time experience at the bio-mechanical facility here.
We are primarily trying to give them confidence with the testing process at the university. How it works and what they do when a bowler does turn up there. If the umpires have confidence in the testing process, there should be confidence that if they put forward a report, it will processed fairly and accurately. What we are trying to do is to give them confidence about what to look for in a bowler’s action to make a very fair and close judgment about whether a bowler has got a serious case to be investigated. We want to do the right thing by the game of cricket and the right thing by the bowler. Give them experience, how they can improve their judgment.
If the umpires are confident that the testing process is strong and robust and it’s accurate, and it’s fair, and if they make a report and the results confirm their suspicion, it’s enhances their belief. And that’s pretty much been our experience in the last 12 to 18 months, that umpires had laid a report to have an action reviewed, they are not saying the action is illegal. They are saying, ‘I have a concern about the action.’ They have been proved right on a lot of occasions.
What is the best view for an umpire to spot suspect action?
It’s a funny thing because on a cricket field you don’t always get the best view. In the video you look at the two dimensional stuff. In the laboratory, they are able to assess with three dimension to give them a better idea of which the best angle to view a suspect action from if they have some concern. We give them some tips about what might create a suspicion about an action to start with. What to look for in the video. Which angle is the best. From that we make a value judgment whether or not we should put pen to paper.
Truth be known, the two best angles are from behind the bowler’s end umpire and behind the ‘keeper. Now, the bowler’s end umpire is watching other things at the time. Back-foot, front-foot, the ball. He is not necessarily in a great position to stop and watch the action. So that leaves us with the view from behind the ‘keeper. What we do know is that for a lot of bowlers, the view from square-leg isn’t particularly helpful, just because of the angle. We are looking for some kind of cue on the field to say, `Oh, That’s a bit different. We need to have a look at that on the video.’ The two best places to look at the video are behind the bowler’s arm and from behind the ‘keeper.
What do umpires need to look for while assessing a bowling action on the cricket field?
Watch the elbow. Just watch the elbow and look for any straightening in the elbow. As simple as that.
You have done well in grooming Indian umpires. Shiva Ravi has now made it to the Elite Panel, succeeding India’s S. Venkatraghavan in that role after so many years.
It’s probably unfair on my part to necessarily single out one umpire. He (Shiva Ravi) is not the only umpire to make it to the list. Chris Gaffaney of New Zealand was also put on this year. And even when Rod Tucker joined the panel from Australia, there was a long gap between the last Test umpire for Australia and then Tucker. In my role with the ICC, I have to be very careful about singling out individual umpires. We are doing some good things. And the standard of umpiring in the international panel, particularly with our 34 umpires, is increasing. I would like to think that the gap between the contracted umpires and the non-contracted umpires is getting smaller all the time. And as always, the new umpires to come out of the panel, join at a higher standard. The competition is healthy and good. Every home board will like to see its domestic umpires grow in performance and position themselves for higher honours. That’s what all the Boards are working towards. It’s always pleasing to see a new umpire join the panel. It’s always sad to see an umpire leave the panel. That’s the nature of the beast. We have had some successes of late. Umpiring is going strong at the moment. The Ashes series was umpired extremely well. We had our two new umpires of the Elite Panel participate in that series which was very pleasing to see from their perspective.
Is there focus on managing on-field behaviour of cricketers?
Absolutely. In the workshop we are doing here at the moment, we are looking at how we manage those players and those incidents. Looking at how we manage the code of conduct process. We are looking at our standards around what’s chargeable and reportable. Umpires at the highest level are reporting player behaviour. We are very conscious of the image of the game. ICC is very clear in its message about the spirit of the game to be upheld and the image of the sport amongst the public. We want to uphold the traditions of the game as well. That’s not to say that we are looking for things to report. If a player crosses the line and the umpire feels that is unacceptable, then we have a role to play in it. Of course we work very collectively with the players and the staff to ensure we communicate clearly. We want a good game that is played hard. The public would love to see that. The public would love to see good cricket. A lot of their work, preparation goes into how we can maintain the integrity of the game, provide a game of good contest. Make sure that the focus stays on cricket and the umpiring and match officiating isn’t the centre of attention.
Are not the umpires under a lot of pressure and scrutiny in the age of technology? The televison shows a decision from so many angles. There are several slow motion replays too but the umpire has to make up his mind in a matter of seconds.
There is no doubt that it is tough on the umpire. We mustn’t forget that the umpires get to this level because they are good decision-makers and can handle the pressure. And they have risen through the level of entry into televised cricket because they already have the judgment skills. Whether you are doing bilateral Test and ODI series or the IPL, there is the extra dimension of third umpire work, more cameras at the game, and a high level of scrutiny, a lot more media at the game who analyse every detail of the game, who are looking for stories, on things to write. Some of it is complimentary, some of it is not. Everyone handles it differently. That is where our coaching staff comes into play. That’s why we look at how we cope with setbacks, how we cope with errors, how we cope with our successes as well, make sure we don’t get complacent, make sure we realise that `Okay, one good game does not make a season and one bad game doesn’t ruin a season.’ Keep a fairly level head. The players might make mistakes. They need to come back the next day stronger, bounce back. It’s the same with umpires.
An umpire requires plenty of mental strength…
It’s a skill. You got to be incredibly mentally tough to be able to ensure that your mind does stay in the prism. The only ball that important right now is the one about to happen. We can’t change the past, we got to focus on what’s in front of us. You got to stay in ‘here and now.’ Talking about it is easy. Doing it is the challenge. The better umpires in the world are able to do it more consistently than anyone else.
At the workshop one of issues we focus on is dealing with setbacks and recovering from it quickly. Get back, start again, refocus, not worry too much about what happened in the past, focus on what’s in front of you, that’s something we got to keep practising all the time.
The umpires have their performances assessed from match to match, series to series. Does this not put them under additional stress?
There’s a match referee who is reporting on their performances. The decisions are logged. We need to focus on the positives here. That our umpires perform extremely well. The average decision making percentage in the Elite panel is over 95 per cent. It’s an incredibly high figure. I think it is important for a match official to focus on all the positives. We would like to tell the public and the players that we are all accountable for our performances. That the umpires continually put things in perspective that they can get the odd decision wrong but there’s a lot of things they get right.
What are the qualities needed to be a good umpire?
We talk about attitude and teamwork. You got to have a positive, team-based attitude. Have a desire for the team’s success. You got to contribute to the success of the team. You got to have the right team-based culture. You should be very solid in your preparation. You should be a very good communicator. You got to be good match manager. You got to be aware of all the different stake-holders, broadcasters, players, fellow umpires, spectators, and appreciate that you have a role to play. Perform at the best of your ability, not get too far ahead of yourself. Not wanting to be the centre of attention. We look for those things. Obviously, you got to be a very good decision maker. You got to have a very solid technique.
How would you assess an umpire’s technique?
It might be the way you deal with people, might be the way you get into positions, might be the way you serve your decisions. Might be the way that you handle various tough situations. Sticky situations, how you handle them. What’s your technique in dealing with suspect bowling actions? What’s your technique in handling player behaviour. Conflict resolution techniques. How do you actually deal with people from different cultures and different backgrounds. It’s like a field-craft if you like. A lot of it depends on your upbringing, your development pathway from your home country and being able to vary your technique according to conditions. Concentration, focus, those sort of things. We look at the whole package. We look at your personal qualities as well. Make sure that you have some relationship building skills. And you are able to connect and communicate with people on all sorts of different levels. From non-English speaking backgrounds to English speaking backgrounds, coping with various religious cultures. And be aware of the political environment we work in as well and be sensitive to those sorts of issues. So you almost have to be someone from the United Nations as much as you are a cricket umpire. So we look at all the dynamics of the individual. You are in charge of a very important product with a lot of commercial aspects to be cognizant of. You need to be aware of the global issues surrounding cricket and how that impacts on the game itself.
Is successful decision making a lot about following your instinct?
You need to stay true to your instincts, your gut feel. Your first impression is probably the right impression. We often make a mistake when we go against our gut feel. That’s why it’s natural talent to a large extent. You know when you see it whether it’s `out or not out.’ When you start second guessing yourself and you got some doubts, that’s when things start to go wrong. We really encourage umpires not to second guess themselves. They need to keep that self belief and say, ‘I think that’s out, or I think that’s not out.’ As a cricket umpire, you are competing often against 32 cameras. You only got two eyes to work with and one angle to look at and you go with that gut instinct. Sometimes there will be a camera angle that will show a slightly different result. That’s the nature of the game.
What have been the hardest decisions to make for you?
Caught behind down the leg side, particularly just off the hip, where the bat is next to the thigh pad, is one of the toughest for me. You are looking front on and you don’t get any real depth perception. You don’t know whether it brushed the glove or might have just hit the thigh pad, the noise might still be paddy, but you are not getting a great view. That’s why the best view for a caught behind down the leg-side is always from a ‘keeper’s point of view. That’s not the view the umpire gets to make his decision on.
The second one would be a bat pad. There’s a lot happening in there. You learn a lot from experience about what’s out and what’s not out. Sometimes you need some luck in umpiring as well.
Does the reaction of the batsman, like looking back after snicking to the ‘keeper, play a part in decision making?
We would never educate umpires based on player reaction. That’s comes with experience. Maybe it is part of the jigsaw puzzle, part of the information that’s missing. Might help you go a certain way but we would never educate someone to make decision based on player reactions. If it is consistent with what your gut feel is, we would suggest you to go with it. These things happen so quickly that we would be very cautious about paying attention to player reactions. You got to give decisions, based on what you hear and see, facts that are in front of you.
Which are the decisions you remember in your illustrious career?
To me, I tend not to remember my good ones because that was part of my job. And I remember a lot of my bad ones. Occasionally, I remember a few good ones as well.
Who have been your favourite cricketers when it comes to upholding the spirit of the game?
I have always hesitated and refrained from talking about individual players during my career and I would not like to go there now because I respect the practice. I am holding a neutral position now as a former match official and also my work with umpires now, so I can’t talk about favourite or memorable players in that respect. What I would like to say is that I really cherish the opportunity of officiating so many great players, so many players I have enjoyed having a very good working relationship with. So many players who have shown tremendous characteristics and human qualities and there are many in India who fall in that category. A lot of memories I would keep with me for a long time.
