Steve Bucknor is a former Jamaican international cricket referee and football referee. One of the most experienced umpires in cricket history, Bucknor officiated a record 128 Test matches, 179 ODIs and five consecutive World Cups between 1992 and 2007. He was the first umpire to officiate 100 Test matches.
Wiki/Biography
Stephen Anthony Bucknor was born on Friday, May 31, 1946, in Montego Bay, St. James, Jamaica (age 78; as of 2024). His zodiac sign is Gemini. He has been fond of sports since he was a child. Bucknor was raised by a single mother and spent much of his childhood on the playground while his mother worked. He attended Cornish College in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He plays goalie on the Cornwall College rugby team. He also serves as team captain. He was a member of the Cornwall Academy team that won the 1963 DaCosta Cup. He also represented his academy in the long jump. Bucknor relocated to New York from Jamaica in 2017-18.
appearance
Height (approximately): 6′3″
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
Not much is known about Steve Bucknor’s parents and siblings.
wife and children
On June 10, 1989, Steve Bucknor married Leora Bucknor.
Steve Bucknor and his wife Leola Bucknor
He has six children. He also has a stepdaughter. His daughters’ names are Suzanne Bucknor, Sasheeka Bucknor, Stephanie Bucknor, Andrae Stephenson and Sally Lee ·Shari Ri Ri. Sasheeka Bucknor works for Air Jamaica. His son Stubby England (Sean) is a professional football player.
From left to right: Andrae Stephenson, Leora Bucknor and Shari Ri Ri
Steve Bucknor and his son Sta-Bee British
Steve Bucknor’s daughter Suzanne Bucknor receives Lifetime Achievement Award on her father’s behalf
Steve Bucknor’s daughter Sashika Bucknor
Stephanie Bucknor, daughter of Steve Bucknor
religion
Steve Bucknor is a Christian.
Profession
After completing his formal education, he worked as a Mathematics and Physical Education teacher at St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS).
football
Steve Bucknor began his career in football. As a footballer, he played as a goalkeeper in the Jamaica Parish League in the 1960s. In 1964, he represented the Jamaican team as a goalkeeper in an international student match, which ended in a 1-1 draw with Brazil. He later became the rugby coach at Cornwall College. He won the da Costa Cup six times between 1981 and 1991.
Steve Bucknor, coach of Cornwall College’s 1982 DaCosta Cup football team (wearing white Adidas T-shirt)
At the same time, he became a football referee. Bucknor served as a FIFA referee in the 1988 CONCACAF and World Cup qualifiers between El Salvador and the Netherlands Antilles. Bucknor retired from football in 1992.
cricket
Bucknor’s first international cricket match was a One-Day International (ODI) between West Indies and India in Antigua on 18 March 1989. His first Test match was between West Indies and India at Sabina Park, Kingston, from 28 April to 3 May 1989. He played just four Test matches and a few one-day internationals. Later, he was selected as the referee for the 1992 World Cup final. Buckner also refereed the next four World Cup finals in 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007. In 1994, the ICC introduced a Test match policy in which an umpire would be independent of the participating countries and selected from the international committee. Buckner was a member of the panel from the beginning until 2002, when the ICC changed its refereeing policy. Buckner was one of five officials who made poor decisions during the 2007 World Cup final, allowing the game to continue in poor light. As a result, Bucknor and four other officials were banned from the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa. His poor decisions led to India’s defeat by 122 runs in the second Test in Sydney in January 2008.
The International Cricket Federation has disqualified Bucknor from umpiring the third Test match between Australia and India in Perth after an outcry from the Board of Control for Cricket. On February 23, 2009, the ICC announced that Bucknor would retire from the refereeing position in March 2009. The last Test match he officiated was the third Test match between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town from 19 to 23 March 2009. His last ODI match was the fourth Test match. On March 29, 2009, the ODI match between West Indies and England was held in Barbados. Bucknor umpired Test matches between 1989 and 2009 with a record 128 runs, during which time he also refereed 181 ODIs.
He played in 309 games and had one of the most unique ways of getting a batter out!
Happy birthday Steve Bucknor! pic.twitter.com/bQqrJl1X6Q
— International Chamber of Commerce (@ICC) May 30, 2017
after retirement
After retiring from cricket, he again began coaching the Cornwall College DaCosta Cup men’s rugby team.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- ICC wins Bronze Medal for 100 ODI umpires
- Jamaica Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Sports (2007)
Steve Bucknor was awarded the Order of the Order of Jamaica in 2007
- Referee’s 100 Test Match Bail Award
Favorites
- All-round cricketer: Conrad Hunt
- Cricket ground: Lord’s Stadium, London
Facts/Trivia
- His nicknames are Sta-Bee and Gabby.
- He was the first official to serve as both a FIFA umpire and an ICC Test cricket empire.
- Bucknor played cricket in Montego Bay and was an all-rounder. He started refereeing because he was angry about the bad decisions he was making during his games. He wanted to ensure that cricketers were treated fairly, so he decided to become an umpire.
- He is known for his punctuality. The only time he was late was during a Test at Lord’s, where he arrived at 9.05am for the 11am start.
- In 2002, Bucknor broke Dickie Bird’s record of umpiring in 66 Tests.
- In March 2005, he became the first umpire to officiate 100 Tests.
- Steve Bucknor’s relationship with India turned sour after the 2008 Sydney Test. Years later, Bucknor said he made two mistakes in that game. He said the first error cost the Australian batsmen a hundred and the second error on the fifth day cost India the match. The batsman Bucknor was referring to was Andrew Symonds, who ended up scoring 162 runs. During the overswing of Ishant Sharma, Symonds, who was batting at 30, hit the ball with the edge of his bat and wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni took it Caught the ball. However, Steve Bucknor doesn’t think Simmonds will be out. The second mistake could be a reference to Rahul Dravid’s final-day wicket, with replays clearly showing the ball hit his front knee and rolled.
- The 2008 Sydney Test is also famous for the monkey gate controversy when Bucknor was involved in a decision regarding Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh. Singh was accused of calling Andrew Symonds a “monkey” and he was banned for three games following the incident. Thereafter, Indian cricket fans blamed umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor for India’s defeat in the Test match and burned their effigies.
- Until December 2019, Bucknor held the record for most Test match umpires, but this record was later broken by Aleem Dar from Pakistan. Aleem Dar umpired a record 144 Test matches in his career.
- Steve Bucknor was dubbed the “slow death” because he took so long to get a decision on his appeal.
- In May 2006, Bucknor accused television companies of altering images to make referees look bad and key players look good.
- In 2007, Bucknor was nominated for the Referee of the Year award, but Simon Taufel won the award.
- On March 22, 2009, during South Africa’s final Test against Australia in Cape Town, he knelt and prayed on the field, ending his 20-year career.
Steve Bucknor kneels and prays during South Africa’s final match against Australia in Cape Town on March 22, 2009
- Eleven years after his retirement, Steve Bucknor remembers making several wrong decisions against Sachin Tendulkar during an interview. His decision sparked outrage in India. An error occurred in Australia (at the Gabba in Brisbane in 2003) when he mistakenly declared Tendulkar out even though the ball was going over the stumps. Another mistake came during a match at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in 2005, when he mistakenly thought the batsman was catching the ball behind and cut the ball.
- As well as football and cricket, Bucknor enjoys athletics. In an interview, after retiring from cricket, he said that he will participate in athletics. Talking about the same, he said:
I do sprints. I’ve been an athlete since I was a kid. Running is part of who I am…I run the 200m, the 400m, I’m part of the 4×50 and 4×100 relay quartets. I also throw discus and shoot. “
- In an interview, he said that he likes to be alone and likes to stay indoors in his spare time. He said he likes to watch TV and write something.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education