Arunabha Sengupta looks at some of the most famous feuds of cricket. In this episode he covers the myriad controversies surrounding the relationship between Steve Bucknor and the Indian cricket team
“Slow Death”
With a height of six feet, three3 inches, Steve Bucknor commanded one of the best views over the proceedings. Respected the world over, in spite of frictions with certain teams, namely India, he stood in a record five consecutive World Cup finals.
Nicknamed “Slow Death” for the agonisingly deliberated decisions, he was also a FIFA referee who officiated in the World Cup qualifier match between El Salvador and the Netherlands Antilles in 1988.
Although from the beginning he was reputed to be an efficient master of ceremonies, his interactions with India got off to a poor start. In the second Test at Johannesburg, 1992-93, he refused to refer to the third umpire, and ruled Jonty Rhodes not out when replays clearly showed that a direct hit had caught him short of his ground. The Indians, who had South Africa on the mat with five wickets down, were not amused as Rhodes went on to score 91 and save the Test match.
Bucknor was one of the on-field umpires when Sachin Tendulkar was ruled run out when he collided with Shoaib Akhtar at a crucial juncture during the Eden Gardens Test in 1998-99. While it was the TV umpire KT Francis who pushed the offending button, much of the ire of the rioting spectators was directed at Bucknor and David Orchard who had referred the decision regardless of the collision that had taken place in front of their eyes.
When India played their inaugural Test match against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2000, it was Ian Chappell who turned his critical microphone in the direction of the Jamaican umpire. While Bangladesh batted, and Aminul Islam and Habibul Bashar were in the midst of a fruitful partnership, Bucknor kept needling the batsmen about running on to the danger area. It was peculiar to say the least, but even the first two steps down the wicket while taking off for a run proved enough for a censure. Things became almost comical when Aminul played the ball and leapt sideways before scampering down for a run. Chappell remarked, “Umpire Bucknor has done a fairly good job all these years, but with time he is getting too much into the game.”
However, with time, the already sour relationship between the Indians and the West Indian official fast turned acrimonious.
During the 2003-04 tour of Australia, saw a remarkable number of issues – most of them bizarre. In the first Test at The Gabba, Jason Gillespie appealed for a leg before decision against Sachin Tendulkar even as the ball hit the master batsman high up on the thigh pad. After waiting an eternity, Gillespie had started walking back to his bowling mark when Bucknor nodded and raised his finger. It was a sort of record even for the man known as “Slow Death” and left Tendulkar with his jaw hanging in surprise.
In the last Test, where Indians were pushing to win the series, Bucknor turned down plumb leg before appeals – two against Justin Langer and one against Damien Martyn. A fuming Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, severely criticised Bucknor and handed him a very poor rating in his captain’s report to the International Cricket Council (ICC). Apart from the decisions which went against them, Indians were not happy with the way he had admonished wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel for appealing.
Shortly after that, during the three-nation tournament that followed, Bucknor infuriated the Indians once again by mimicking Rahul Dravid. In an earlier game against Zimbabwe at The Gabba, Dravid had been penalised 50 per cent of his match fees by Match Referee Clive Lloyd for changing the condition of the ball by rubbing his half eaten lolly against it. The team had claimed that it was an accident, an innocent mistake. When Dravid walked into bat against Australia at Sydney, Bucknor rolled his fingers over the ball, looking at Dravid tauntingly and miming the action of licking a lollypop. The insinuation was direct and disgraceful. The team found it unacceptable and took the extreme step of reporting it to Lloyd.
The feud continued into 2004-05. While officiating at the Eden Gardens again, Bucknor gave Tendulkar caught behind off Abdul Razzak when there was enough gap between the bat and the ball for an overweight elephant to walk through. If the master had been left with rolled eyes and open mouth at The Gabba, now he walked away fuming and did not attend the function held in the Jamaican’s honour on the evening of the same day.
By this stage of his career, Bucknor was perhaps running on borrowed time, but he refused to accept it. In the World Cup final in Barbados, 2007, he made the Sri Lankans bat on in near darkness in a completely messed up implementation of rules.
Finally, it was the India-Australia Test match at Sydney in 2007, which proved to be the last nail in the coffin that had been sitting out for long.
Andrew Symonds benefitted twice in the first innings, first at 30 off an edge so thick that even the batsman admitted later that he had been out. Next, when he had capitalised on the mistake to take his score to 148, Bucknor rolled the years back by refusing to refer a stumping decision to the third umpire when the replays showed Symonds out of ground.
In the second innings, Symonds was the recipient of Bucknor’s generosity yet again, with a plumb leg before appeal off Anil Kumble turned down before he had scored, and merrily went on to notch up 61. And then the Symonds-Bucknor combination worked for a final time during the Indian second innings when a ball from the Australian all-rounder brushed Dravid’s pad and was snapped up by the ‘ambassador of faiplay’ Adam Gilchrist. The Australians, wicketkeeper included, appealed vociferously and Bucknor nodded his head, raising his finger.
The game saw many more controversies that led skipper Kumble to famously remark – “Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game.”
With most of Bucknor’s decisions going against India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) soon faced the demand from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to replace the erring umpire for the next Test.
Ravi Shastri remarked on television, “Umpire Bucknor has outlived his shelf life.” Even senior colleague Dickie Bird felt, “he had gone on too long.”
The ICC relented with an alacrity which was in direct contrast to the slow agonising decision making of Bucknor and Billy Bowden was brought in for the next Test at Perth. However, the veteran Jamaican did not take the decision gracefully, blaming Indian financial clout for his ouster.
Just about a year later, the ICC announced that Steve Bucknor had decided to retire from umpiring. He stood for the final time in the Test between South Africa and Australia at Cape Town in March, 2009.