Flashback: The first umpire to officiate in 100 Test matches

Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 31 May 1946, Steve Bucknor is a former international cricket umpire, who umpired in 128 Test matches, second-most for any umpire in the game’s history. Bucknor’s first international cricket fixture as an umpire was the One Day International between the West Indies and India at Antigua on 18th March 1989, while he officiated for the first time in a Test match at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, between 28 April and 3 May 1989, between the same teams.

Career highlights

After umpiring in a few international matches, he was selected to umpire at the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia and went on to stand in the final despite being quite inexperienced. He holds the record for standing in as an on-field umpire in five World Cup tournaments, having stood in 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007 after the 1992 edition. Overall, he officiated in 44 World Cup games, which includes five finals.

Bucknor, who stood in 128 Tests, holds the record for the second-most Test matches umpired after Aleem Dar’s 136 and was the first umpire to have officiated in over 100 Test matches. He broke Dickie Bird’s record of standing 66 Tests in 2002, before becoming the first umpire to stand in 100 Tests, in March 2005.

In October 2007, he was awarded the Order of Jamaica, Commander Class, for “outstanding services in the field of sports”. In One Day Internationals, only Aleem Dar (211), Rudi Koertzen (209), and Billy Bowden (200) have officiated in more than Bucknor’s 181 ODIs. Bucknor also received the ICC’s Bronze Bails Awards for umpiring in 100 ODIs, as well as the Golden Bails Award for umpiring 100 Test matches.

He faced severe backlash and scrutiny during India’s tour of Australia in 2007-08, where he made quite a few questionable decisions and was removed by the ICC from officiating in the third Test in Perth. His incorrect decisions contributed to India’s defeat in the second Test in Sydney in January 2008 and he was replaced by Billy Bowden for the third Test.

On 23rd February 2009, the ICC confirmed that Bucknor had decided to retire from umpiring. His final Test match was the 3rd Test between South Africa and Australia at Cape Town between 19-23 March, and his last One Day International match was the 4th ODI between West Indies and England at Barbados on 29 March, bringing his 20-year career as an official to an end.