After that Queensland game it was a case of higher and higher for you, wasn’t it?
Q AI was put on a Cricket Australia national panel which controlled match appointments. I was contracted and I earned $10,000 my first year. And that’s how it all kicked off, wasn’t it? Being in the right place at the right time as you advanced to the international panel then the elite international panel? Being an umpire is like being a wicketkeeper. There are only two of them in each game and it’s a bit like you have to be in form when your chance comes. If your chance comes and you’re not in form then you’re not going to hold on to your spot. The cards fell nicely for me because the guys above me all retired at once and suddenly I went from being a junior member on that panel to top three in two years. Being elevated to the elite must have been an honour, so how did you handle it?
QAQAWhen Paul Parker retired I went on to the full international panel. That was scary. Up to then it was all fun, then suddenly it got to the stage where ‘hell, I’m actually supposed to know what I’m doing’. What would you be doing now if you had not taken up umpiring as a career? I’d be swallowing dust in the cabinetmaking industry. My Dad Jim and I used to run Global Interiors.
Q AQ AYou have had your moments when it comes to on-field bloopers. What are some of your funniest moments? I can’t remember too many train smashes – except for losing a ball in the middle of the field. It was during the Champions League in India and the Brisbane Heat were playing one of the South African sides. We had a rain delay between innings and we stopped play to get some sawdust for the bowlers and the ball had been thrown back to the middle of the pitch. When we resumed play the bowler calls out ‘what about the ball?’ I patted my pockets, nothing, so I asked the Heat players which one of them is playing a joke. But it was not a joke, was it? You had forgotten about something, hadn’t you? Then I thought one of the ground staff had picked the ball up and taken it. I had no alternative and had to get a new ball. Just as I brought my hands together to restart play I thought ‘whoops’ I could feel the ball in the hat I’m hanging on to. My immediate reaction was to hide it in my pocket and pretend nothing had happened. But I fessed up said ‘found it’. What was the hilarious moment at the Gabba when you allegedly hit the wrong button? It was Mike Hussey (batting) and I really can only blame a malfunction in the equipment. There was a system where you had a ‘decision’ button, ‘are you sure’ button and a ‘send decision to the big screen’. It was supposed to come across as Not Out but instead it was Out.
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