I think the best umpire on the ICC Test circuit is Australian official Simon Taufel. Forced to retire as a player due to a back injury, he took the ICC umpiring test with a friend - and although his pal failed the examination, Taufel surprisingly passed.

Simon started umpiring in grade cricket but quickly got promotion. In 1995 he began standing in first-class matches, making his first-class debut at the age of 24. Then luck gave him a chance to stand in his first ever ODI match in 1999 - when, at 28, he was younger than some of the players he was umpiring.

His excellent decision making earned Simon his first-ever Test Match in 2000. Some people don’t know or don’t want to know just how difficult the job of umpiring is - so like most officials, Taufel is sometimes criticised for his decisions. But umpires are only human and even some of the modern devices fool us all. But then it is said that man is a puppet of mistakes.

'Many umpires make mistakes but no matter how important the contest, Taufel remains cool and invariably makes his decisions correctly'


Taufel was chosen to stand in the 2003 Cricket World Cup where he made some brave but correct decisions which earned him promotion to the ICC Elite Umpire panel. He has been officially ICC Umpire of the Year every year since 2004, when the rankings started. He is also the youngest official to umpire 100 one-day internationals.

Taufel's accuracy in difficult situations is one of many characteristics which make him the best. It is very difficult to umpire cricket as opposed to football or other sports - and he remains calm both on and off the pitch. Many umpires make mistakes but no matter how important the contest, Taufel remains cool and invariably makes his decisions correctly.

To date, he has umpired in 51 test matches, 124 ODIs and 11 Twenty20 contests. I regard him as the best umpire in the game, followed by the Pakistani official Aleem Dar, who may well threaten the Aussie's Umpire of the Year title at some time in the future.