West Indies’ umpire Steve Bucknor was one of the most respected names in cricket during the 1990s and the 2000s. Bucknor ended his career after standing in 128 Test matches, and 181 ODIs, since making his debut in 1989.
Moreover, his career was marred with a few controversial decisions, especially against the Indian team.
Now, Bucknor has admitted to making a couple of howlers he made during the infamous 2008 Sydney Test, which cost India the game.
“I made two mistakes in the Sydney Test in 2008,” Bucknor told Mid-day.
“Mistake one, which happened when India were doing well, allowed an Australian batsman to get a hundred. Mistake two, on Day Five, might have cost India the game. But still, they are two mistakes over five days. Was I the first umpire to make two mistakes in a Test? Still, those two mistakes seem to have haunted me,” Bucknor added.
The batsman Bucknor referred to was Andrew Symonds who struck 160, after being provided a couple of lifelines by him.
The second instance Bucknor talked about was during the fourth innings of the Test match, where Bucknor adjudged the catch of Rahul Dravid. Replays clearly showed that the ball hit Dravid’s pads instead of the bat.
Further, the replays also showed that Sourav Ganguly’s catch at slips was grassed by Michael Clarke. Still, Ganguly had to walk back to the pavilion after the intervention of Ricky Ponting, who insisted that the catch was clean.
Also, during the Test match, the entire Monkeygate scandal unravelled between Harbhajan Singh and Symonds.
“You need to know why mistakes are made. You don’t want to make similar mistakes again. I am not giving excuses but there are times when the wind is blowing down the pitch and the sound travels with the wind. The commentators hear the nick from the stump mic but the umpires may not be sure. These are things spectators won’t know,” Bucknor added.
