Rudi Koertzen, the good umpire!

The untimely death of South African umpire Rudi Koertzen in a car accident was a further reminder of the fragile nature of life It also highlighted the importance of umpires and the crucial role they play in the game of cricketKoertzen had an uncommon saying that he ldquowas never scared to apologiserdquoNot always agreeing with umpiring decisions I preferred the mantra ldquoGet it right in the first placerdquo However the fact that Koertzen created an atmosphere that allowed players to remind him hersquod made a mistake is a credit to the umpirersquos friendly natureWhile I never played under Koertzen I watched him perform in some of his 108 Tests and he maintained control without challenging players However that wasnrsquot how I found South African umpiring on my two official tours in 196667 and 1970In general the umpiring was bad with a couple who were blatantly patriotic Before I toured India and South Africa in 196970 poor programming by the Australian Board I heard a lot of uncomplimentary remarks about Indian umpiringIndian umpiring was okayI found Indian umpiring was okay and any mistakes were genuine The South African umpiring was appalling and Tony Greig later told me that provincial players had decided on a moratorium to walk if they were out because the officiating became so biasedI put the Australian pretour comments down to white players not criticising the apartheid environment As I used to say to people who asked if the South African tour was the best for Australian players ldquoIf you were white you mightrsquove enjoyed itrdquoThe best three officials I played under were Australian Test umpire Colin Egar the West Indies quickfire adjudicator Douglas SangHue and Englandrsquos leathervoiced arbiter Charlie ElliottIn addition to being a very good umpire Egar was aware of a playerrsquos feelings He would use your first name in both asking what guard you wanted and then confirming you had the right spot One day Egar said to me ldquoI never spoke to you in the middle until you started a conversationrdquoHersquod learned very quickly that I didnrsquot like talking until my innings was establishedAlso Read India have better pacers in T20 than Shami PontingSangHue a JamaicanChinese by birth umpired all five Tests in 1973 and right through World Series Cricket WSC He had the quickest trigger finger Irsquove ever seen but he got most of his decisions right He made one mistake in 1973mdashhe gave Lawrence Rowe not out lbw in Jamaicamdashand Rod Marsh reckoned it was the best decision of the series as it stopped a riotPeople talk about an umpirersquos integrity but SangHue took it to another level During the series Doug wouldnrsquot stop and talk when I said good morning to him When the series finished I congratulated him on his performance and asked him why he hadnrsquot stopped ldquoI didnrsquot want anyone to think I was biasedrdquo he answeredQuirky sense of humourHe also had a quirky sense of humour During WSC the West Indies appealed for lbw against an Australian batsman One appeal came from midwicket fielder Collis King and not even answering the other players SangHue simply looked at the fielder and said ldquoWhat you can see from thererdquoApart from being a very good umpire Elliott will be remembered for his extremely loud voice ldquoSIT DOWNrdquo he would boom out to any patron who was moving behind the bowlers arm and this proved to be a great form of amusement Players would sometimes ask Elliott to admonish a patron just to hear his trumpetlike voiceElliott umpired 42 Tests and he didnrsquot suffer stupidityWe thought he was unfairly punished for his strong opinionsI played my career with home country umpires officiating While some decisions could be dicey with the advent of television replays this is more easily overcomeItrsquos time for a permanent return to one home country umpire as like players they enjoy the honour of officiating at local Test grounds If we accept the adage all umpires are impartial