Umpire Steve Davis calls time on career

Anyone who truly believes international cricket umpires wield power of life and death proportions need only speak to Steve Davis to gain some context.

Davis, the congenial, avuncular official who today announced he is stepping down after 25 years in professional cricket’s most scrutinised yet thankless role, knows from numbing experience that dubious lbw decisions and line-ball catches amount to little more than the ephemeral moments that constitute sport.

And that they pale in importance and consequence against lying face down on the floor of a marooned mini-bus in a foreign city as it is strafed with terrorist bullets and your fellow travellers fall around you dead or wounded.

Davis, 63, was in his 17th year as an international umpire but his first tour of duty in Pakistan in 2009 when the van that was carrying him and his fellow match officials to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of the second Test between the home team and Sri Lanka was ambushed.

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Shortly after the convoy was attacked and the bus carrying the Sri Lanka team sped away to the ground, the driver of the umpires’ van screamed at his passengers to hit the floor moments before he was struck by bullets and killed.

Reserve umpire Ahsan Raza was shot in the chest and match referee Chris Broad applied pressure to his wound to stem the bleeding, while Davis, his fellow Australian official Simon Taufel and Pakistan’s Nadeem Ghauri cowered low and waited for the worst.

“Glass was shattering everywhere and there were noises of bullets and other ammunition just pelting us from all sides, back, both sides and the front,” Davis recalled when he returned home to Adelaide days after the attack.

"I thought we were going to be killed, I just thought they’d just do away with us."

That Davis packed his bag and left for his next overseas Test assignment less than two months after he genuinely believed his life, much less his umpiring career, was over says much about his commitment to the cause and passion for the game.

Describing himself as a “pretty average” cricketer whose playing career took him to the second-tier of Adelaide’s grade competition but no higher, Davis is the longest-serving member of the current 12-man Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

The first of his 135 one-day internationals to date was a baptism of celebrity – a star-studded match between the West Indies and Pakistan at Adelaide Oval that featured Desmond Haynes Brian Lara, Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis among others.

Image Id: ~/media/2E3F1AEAA9E14BB4938C114155DAD69DSteve Davis with David Orchard in 2003 // Getty Images

Indeed, Davis has been part of the international umpiring fraternity for so long that he officiated in his first Test at Hobart - when Mark Taylor’s Australia played Stephen Fleming’s New Zealand – back in the days before neutral umpires were required for all Test matches.

However, the introduction of the ICC’s mandate in 2002 that both Test umpires must bear no formal allegiance to the competing teams meant Davis’s tenure in Tests played in his home country was limited to five of the 57 matches in which he officiated.

Which therefore meant more than half of every year was spent travelling the globe, as part of touring party of a handful of fellow officials which – even without the pall of organised assassination attempts – presents a significant physical and mental challenge.

As a result, Davis has decided that the upcoming ODI series between England and New Zealand beginning next week will be his last before he hangs up the white coat.

“It has been a difficult but considered decision,” he said today.

“I have had a marvellous 25-year career during which I worked with some of the best umpires and match referees.

“I have made many lasting friendships all around the world, both on and off the field, which I will treasure forever.

“I also take this opportunity to thank Cricket Australia and the ICC for their support and the opportunities they have given me.

“And as much as anyone, I thank my wife Annie and our families for their encouragement and support over the years.”

Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland acknowledged Davis's reliability during his "wonderful career".

“As one of Australia's leading officials, Steve's achievements have been significant during his 25 years on the field spanning 57 Tests and several World Cup," Sutherland said.

“Steve leaves the game with the respect of the international cricketing community and is held in high regard by match officials and players alike

“The leadership Steve has shown during his time on the ICC’s Elite Panel is a credit to him and we thank him for his outstanding contribution to the game.”

The ICC’s General Manager of Cricket, Geoff Allardice paid tribute to Davis describing him as “one of the best match managers on the field”, in no small part due to Davis’s complementary career as a human resources professional.

“He has also been the leader of the elite umpires over recent years, and his calming influence will be hard to replace,” Allardice said.

Despite being one of only two members of the Elite Panel (alongside New Zealand’s Billy Bowden) not to have played cricket at first-class and/or international level, Davis believed that his pre-umpiring experience in the corporate world provided him with an ideal grounding.

His ability to manage escalating conflict and to remain a “calming influence” amid the tension of professional sport were often as timely and crucial as his on-field decision making.

“If you step in too quickly you can flare the situation up to where it wasn’t heading,” he once noted.

“If you hold back and pick your moment to step in, most of the time that will fix it.”

He has now chosen his time to step away.