Credit: ICC
The veteran cricket umpire from England, Richard Kettleborough, has achieved a feat that even his idol and mentor late David Shepherd could not achieve. Known for his calm demeanour, fair decision making, and consistency on the field, Kettleborough has already stood in some of the cricket’s biggest matches, including Ashes Tests and World Cup fixtures. The second Test match between West Indies which is currently underway at the National Cricket Stadium in St George's, Grenada, with its first day on Thursday, July 3, witnessed a historic record from the Englishman
The 52-year-old, who is standing in his 93rd Test match, has become England’s most capped on-field umpire. He surpassed the record of his idol and mentor late David Shepherd, who held the record with 92 Test matches. In his statement to the England and Wales Cricket Board website in the lead-up to the mileston, he said, “To overtake the late, great David Shepherd - who was one of my idols growing up - is something I am very proud of.”
While remembering his mentor he added, “Shep always told me ‘If you can look yourself in the mirror at the end of a day’s play and say you gave honest decisions based on what you saw, then you should sleep well.’ And I can honestly say I’ve done that every single day of my career.”
Richard Kettleborough is sixth in list of most Test matches as an umpire
On this journey of becoming England’s most experienced Test umpire, Kettleborough played professional cricket as well. He represented Yorkshire and Middlesex, he also has a century under his name in 33 matches. He switched to umpiring and joined the ECB first-class panel in 2006. He made his international debut in a T20I in 2009 and umpired his first Test in Galle in November 2010. He became a member of ICC Elite Panel in 2011.
Since then he has won three consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year awards. Kettleborough is currently sixth on the overall tally of most Test matches as an umpire with 93, Pakistan’s Aleem Dar holds the record for standing in the most Test matches with a tally of 145.
