Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 14:

Buddhi Bahadur Gurung, the only Nepali cricket umpire in the ICC Associate and Affiliated Umpire Panel (AAUP), returned to Kathmandu after officiating seven matches at the ICC Trophy 2005 held in Ireland from July 1-13. “I got an opportunity to learn many important aspects of the game during the tour,” said Buddhi at a press meet today. “It was a great honour for us to get a chance to stand with ‘big’ umpires and they coordinated a lot with us,” he added. Buddhi, 30, was among the two Asian umpires selected in the AAUP — which has 10 umpires — along with Singapore’s Sarika Prasad. Buddhi was scheduled to officiate in six matches, but his on-field performance earned a bonus match for him. In the tournament, he got the opportunity to stand with the likes of K Hariharan, Aruna De Silva, Billy Dictrove, Kevin Barbar and Tony Hill of the ICC International Penel. “I got pratical knowledge about how umpires are supposed to tackle with players activities during the high-level matches,” he said. “I think I did well to satisfy our coordinator Daryll Hair and as a result I was awarded with a bonus match between Denmark and Namibia,” he added.

“I also received on-field compliments from team captains and managers,” he said. Buddhi officiated the matches between Holland and PNG, Ireland and Uganda, UAE and Denmark, Ireland and Denmark, USA and PNG. Buddhi was also selected for ACC Trophy in Canada in 2001. Buddhi also said that Hair was impressed with the performance of the AAUP umpires during the match. “He (Hair) has assured us of providing the opportunity to stand in one-day matches,” he informed. “Physical fitness is the most important aspect for an umpire to officiate in any level,” said Buddhi when asked about if he was prepared for one-day matches.

“You have to be regularly updated with the rules and you need to work out for physical fitness

— most importantly eye sight, hearing power and concentration,” he added.