Simon Taufel is one of most renowned umpires of the modern era. Following his retirement, the five-time ICC umpire of the year designed an online accreditation course for umpires to help them train and develop new skills.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan in an exclusive interview, Taufel revealed that there are three levels of accreditation: introductory, Level 1, and Level 2. He further stated that the course revolves around match preparation, conflict resolution, technique, and managing the game.
“The aim is to equip people with the insights and the tools to be able to benchmark their skills against best practice and since it is an online course, people can do it at their own pace. You can retake the course because it is not about pass or fail but a case of becoming a better umpire and enjoying their craft,” said the 51-year-old.
Taufel also stated that the course is open to new and existing umpires while the latter don’t have to go through the introductory level but can go through Level-1 and Level-2 to further enhance their skills.
The Australian-born stepped away from international cricket back in 2012 but said that he misses the team work and comradery.
“I miss being part of the excitement of international cricket but I don’t miss the travel and time away from family,” he said.
“I certainly don’t miss the scrutiny,” he added with a smirk on his face. “It is now time to help the new generation and I am loving every bit of that.”
The 51-year-old revealed that after Test cricket, India-Pakistan matches were the most difficult to officiate in.
“The India-Pakistan clashes came with added scrutiny and expectations because the game is being analysed by all the armchair experts,” he revealed.
Recalling Pakistan’s famous series against India in 2004, Taufel said that you couldn’t help but be distracted due to the magnitude of the clash.
“You had people with machine guns guarding you and presidential-level security was assigned to the teams. You have to remain grounded as I tried my level-best to focus on the task ahead and take things one ball at a time,” Simon stated.
During the interview, Taufel also revealed that statistically umpires get more than 93 percent of their decision right while players with DRS appeal hardly have a 25 percent success rate.
“This shows statistically who the better umpires are but that shouldn’t stop players from wanting to become an umpire,” he added.
Sharing his experience of officiating in Pakistan, Simon said that he thoroughly enjoyed it.
“Having been back in PSL a couple of years ago after that terrible 2009 incident, I enjoyed going back to Karachi again.”
Sharing his thoughts on Pakistani umpires, Taufel complimented Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza but also remained cautious as to where the future Pakistani umpires are going to come from.
“I know Ahsan Raza for a long while and he is a fantastic and a competent umpire. Aleem Dar, as well all know, is a record-holder and they are both fantastic. However, the concern now is to see where the future Pakistani umpires are going to come from,” Taufel expressed his opinion.
Reflecting upon the recent passing of Andrew Symonds, Taufel said that he recalled one of the funniest moments he witnessed on a cricket field.
“A fan decided to invade the ground and he [Symonds] was on the non-striker end. Once the invader reached the pitch, Symonds decided to drop his shoulder to tackle him which knocked him out. That was probably one of the funniest incidents I have seen,” he concluded.
