Simon Taufel

Some Lesser Known Facts About Simon Taufel

• Simon Taufel is an Australian cricket umpire who has been an ICC Elite umpire panel member. He is known for winning five consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year awards between 2004 and 2008 and was considered the best umpire in the world during that time. His winning streak was broken in October 2009, when Aleem Dar of Pakistan won the ICC Umpire of the Year award.

• Growing up, he loved playing cricket and would often get disappointed when it rained outside. In an interview, he said that he was not the best player, but like most things, he gave his best effort and worked very hard to improve all the time.

• He captained his first XI at secondary school before going on to play for New South Wales Schoolboys Under-19s, alongside Adam Gilchrist and Michael Slater.

• Later, Simon played for Cammeray Cricket Club as a fast-medium bowler in the Northern Suburbs Cricket Association.

• Before becoming an umpire, he played cricket for the North Sydney and Mosman clubs. At the age of 20, he began officiating in fifth-grade games as an umpire.

• After the 1990-1991 season, he received the Cammeray Cricket Club’s top award for being the best and fairest player. He also had the most number of wickets and the lowest bowling average in the Northern Suburbs Cricket Association during that season.

• He stopped playing cricket due to a back injury.

• In June 1990, Taufel was ready to start attending university. He did not plan on becoming an umpire at all until a friend convinced him to take the umpire’s course together. Even then, he saw it as a way to make some extra money. Coincidentally, Taufel’s friend Dave couldn’t achieve the needed 85% passing score on the test. In contrast, Taufel performed exceptionally well and passed with flying colours.

• While working as an operations manager in a printing firm, he used to umpire in occasional international matches. In 2003, he was selected to be a part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Elite Panel of Umpires. Alongside New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden, he was seen as part of the next generation of umpires.

• At the age of 24, in 1995, he made his debut as a first-class umpire.

• He made his One Day International (ODI) debut as an umpire at the age of 27. It was a match in which his former teammate Adam Gilchrist scored a century.

• In December 2000, he officiated his first Test match, which was the Boxing Day Test between Australia and West Indies held in Melbourne. At this time, he was younger than 12 of the players on both teams.

• In 2002, he joined the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires.

• He was selected as an umpire for the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

• Taufel has received the top umpire of the Year award five times and was ranked second for accuracy in the ICC’s annual umpire review in August 2006.

• He umpired in the final of the 2004 Champions Trophy.

• During the 2006 Champions Trophy, he umpired a semi-final match, but he was not assigned to umpire the final due to Australia’s presence in the final.

• In January 2007, he became the youngest umpire to officiate at 100 One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

• In April 2007, he was selected to umpire the World Cup semi-final match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. However, he was not eligible to officiate at the final as it involved the Australian team.

• He had the opportunity to umpire alongside Aleem Dar in the final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup between Sri Lanka and India. This opportunity came after Australia was eliminated by India in the quarter-finals, allowing him to officiate at the later stages of the tournament.

• On 3 March 2009, Taufel was one of the officials present during the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team by terrorists in Lahore, Pakistan. The attack shook the cricketing world and led to an end to foreign tours of Pakistan. In an interview, he said that the attack left a lifetime impact on him. In the interview, he added,
  

  It (the incident) did change me personally and did change cricket. I think my family is happy seeing me sitting here. It was a difficult telephone call which I had with my wife that day.”

• In 2010, he became a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club Laws sub-committee. He used to assist the MCC (custodians of the game of cricket) in reviewing and updating the Laws of Cricket.

• On 26 September 2012, he announced his retirement from international cricket after his last appearance in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 final in Sri Lanka.

• From 2013 to 2021, he was the deputy chairperson of the Southern Highlands PCYC. He was part of a team that served the local youth and promoted health and well-being in the community.

• He made the decision to step down from cricket’s elite panel of umpires in order to assume a new role as the ICC’s Umpire Performance and Training Manager which he left in 2015.

• Till October 2015, he worked as the ICC’s Umpire Performance and Training Manager and then resigned from that role as well.

• In 2016, he became the match referee and umpire selection manager at Cricket Australia.

• In 2017, he was added as a board member and chairperson of the Highlands District Cricket Association. He used to lead a team that was focused on supporting the local clubs, players, umpires, and volunteers. They managed over 400 registered players and contributed as representatives to Greater Illawarra, NSW, and Australia.

• Between 2000 and 2012, he umpired 74 test matches. He umpired 174 ODI matches between 1999 to 2012. He umpired a total of 34 T20I matches between 2007 to 2012.

• Taufel is the youngest recipient of the ICC’s Bronze Bails Award, which he received for umpiring in 100 ODIs.

• He was the only umpire who was ever invited to give the MCC Spirit Of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture.

• In an interview, he shared that when he started his career, he would hunch over and lower his eyeline while the bowler delivered the ball just like the umpires in the past. However, as he gained more confidence, he gradually got rid of the habit but never lost his focus and concentration on the game.

• In an interview, he said that people tend to remember umpires for the small fraction (around 5%) of decisions they make incorrectly, rather than the large majority (95% or more) that they get right.

• In 2018, he became a partner with Integrity Values Leadership.

• In 2019, he wrote a book on the subject ‘part memoir and part self-help manual’ that was titled ‘Finding The Gaps.’

  

• In 2019, he joined the Industry Advisory Group at Sport Australia.

• In 2019, he became the Thinkfluencer at Tigerhall Social Learning Platform.

• In 2020, he joined the Channel Seven commentary team as an expert commentator for the 2020/21 test series.

• In 2020, he became a commentator and expert analyst at Seven Network, Australia.

• In 2022, he was appointed as the director of Match Ethics and regulations by Legends League Cricket.

• In 2022, he launched an online accreditation course with the goal of filling training, development, and benchmarking gaps for umpires. The course included three levels of accreditation: introductory, Level 1, and Level 2.

• In 2022, he became the ambassador of the Primary Club and raised funds for underprivileged children and community groups.

• In 2023, he was chosen for leading the match officials team at the inaugural edition of the ILT20, to be held across three UAE venues — Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi Cricket and Sports Hub’s Zayed Cricket Stadium), Dubai (Dubai International Stadium) and Sharjah (Sharjah Cricket Stadium) from 13 January to 12 February 2023.

• In 2023, he became a part of the 11 match officials for the inaugural professional franchise cricket league in the United States announced by Major League Cricket (MLC).

• In 2023, he became the patron of the NSW Cricket Umpires Association. He used to advocate officiating in cricket and mentoring support for Board and Members.

• In an interview, he talked about umpiring being replaced by technology and said,
  

  People think that the way to solve the odd grey area is to replace it with technology. I continue to see the skill and judgement of an umpire taken away from them with technology. Umpires progress like a player through the pathway because you are good at what you do and you make the fewest amounts of mistakes. I’m really conscious about trying to turn the art of officiating into a science and seek perfection, whatever that looks like, with decision-making.”

• In an interview, he recalled that Virender Sehwag used to stand next to him at square leg during India games and would call on out and not out. So he advised Sehwag on taking up umpiring but he turned down the offer.

  

• In 2022, in the T20 World Cup between India and Pakistan, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik picked up three runs. However, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and his teammates were not happy with the umpire’s decision and asked if it was a dead ball. The umpires did not declare it as a dead ball but the dead ball controversy remained a talking point from the game. In a Twitter post, Simon talked about this controversy and said,
  

  After the exciting climax to the India v Pakistan match at the MCG last night, I’ve been asked by many to explain the Byes that India scored after Kohli was bowled off the free hit. The umpire made the right decision in signalling Byes after the batters ran three following the ball hitting the stumps and rolling down to 3rd man. For a free hit, the striker cannot be out bowled and therefore, the ball is NOT dead on hitting the stumps – the ball is still in play, and all conditions under the Laws for Byes are satisfied.”

• In an interview, he revealed that he used to maintain a diary noting his wake-up and bedtime, along with a record of his meals. In the mornings, he would measure his heart rate and rate his happiness on a scale of 1 to 10. Later, he would compare these details to his successful days as an umpire to find patterns and insights.

• From 2008 to 2019, he was a Patron for Bowral Cricket Club. He used to manage the fundraising, compliance, and networking with other stakeholders to advance the not-for-profit objectives of the club.

• From 2004 to 2018, he was a training specialist for companies such as Emirates, Birla Institute, Brandix, BCCI, Ceylinco Life, and Metso Minerals.