Billy Doctrove
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| Billy Doctrove | ||
|---|---|---|
| Born | July 3, 1955 (age 51) Marigot, Dominica, Windward Islands |
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| Nationality | Dominican | |
| Tests Umpired | 11 | |
| Years | 2000-present | |
| ODIs Umpired | 64 | |
| Years | 1998-present | |
Billy Raymond Doctrove (born 3 July 1955, Marigot, Dominica, Windward Islands) was an international football referee but is best known as an international cricket umpire.
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[edit] Career as a FIFA referee
During his time as a referee Doctrove and took charge of several international matches, including a World Cup qualifier between Guyana and Grenada in 1996. Despite retiring from international refereeing in 1997 he is still a keen follower of world and English football, supporting Liverpool F.C. and being nicknamed Toshack, after the ex-Liverpool striker. He is also President of the Dominican Football Referees Association, and President of the Windward Islands Cricket Umpires Association.
[edit] Rise to international umpiring
After retiring from football refereeing in 1997 Doctrove was able to concentrate more on his career as a first-class umpire. In April 1998 the West Indies Cricket Board appointed Doctrove to his first one day international (ODI), the match between West Indies and England at Kingstown, St. Vincent. In that match he stood alongside Steve Bucknor, which gave him the chance to work with one of the world's finest ever umpires, and Doctrove learnt a great deal about the skills required to officiate an international match.
Over the next few years Doctrove's decision making continued to impress at first-class level, and whenever he got to stand in ODIs. He was rewarded when he was appointed to his first test match, the third test between West Indies and Pakistan at the Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's, Antigua,in May 2000.
In 2002 he became a member of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires. He stood on that panel for four years during which time he stood in a large number of ODIs and the occasional test. The highlights of his time on the International Panel were an appointment to the 2004 Champions Trophy, and the U19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in early 2006, where he stood in the final. In April 2006 his consistent good performances were rewarded with his promotion to the Emirates ICC Elite Umpire Panel.
[edit] Elite umpiring career
Doctrove's time on the Elite Panel has not been easy so far, and he has had to deal with a number of controversial moments. These include
[edit] When Doctrove disappeared
During the second ODI between West Indies and India in May 2006, a ball was bowled, India effected a run out and turned to the square-leg umpire to appeal. However, the umpire, Doctrove, was not in position and was in fact at the boundary attending to some advertising boards. He rushed back to the field, and after a discussion with his colleague, Asad Rauf, dead ball was called and the ball was bowled again. Fortunately TV replays showed the batsman was not out anyway.
[edit] When Doctrove refused to make a decision
During the first test between West Indies and India at Antigua (June 2006) Indian batsman MS Dhoni was caught at the boundary. However, Dhoni claimed the fielder had carried the ball over the boundary for six runs. The on-field umpires, Asad Rauf and Simon Taufel, consulted and decided to refer the decision to Doctrove, who was the TV-replay umpire. Unfortunately the footage available to Doctrove was insufficient for him to make a decision, and so, instead of giving the benefit of the doubt to the batsman, he incorrectly referred the decision back to Rauf and Taufel. Anarchy ensued on the field for several minutes until Indian captain Rahul Dravid declared the Indian innings complete and ended the situation. After the game Taufel, the more experienced umpire, defended Doctrove, saying he had been in an awkward position and could not have really ruled either way.
[edit] The Oval imbroglio
On 20 August 2006, the fourth day of the fourth test between England and Pakistan at The Oval, he was involved in controversy when he and fellow umpire Darrell Hair ruled that the Pakistani team had been involved in ball tampering. They awarded five penalty runs to England and offered them a replacement ball. Play continued until the tea break, but the Pakistani players refused to take the field thereafter. The umpires then left the field, gave a warning to the Pakistani players, and returned once more 15 minutes later. After waiting two more minutes the umpires removed the bails and declared England winners by forfeiture. The Pakistani team did take to the field 25 minutes later, but Hair and Doctrove refused to continue the game stating that the game had already ended with a Pakistani forfeiture the moment the bails were removed. The Test was abandoned following meetings between various officials from all parties, with Pakistan forfeiting the game.[1] The match was followed by extensive media coverage and interest from all parts of the game. In the subsequent investigation it emerged that Doctrove had wanted to wait and be sure Pakistan were ball tampering before making accusations, but Darrell Hair had insisted on acting immediately. As such Hair took the vast majority of the criticism, after all he was by far the more experienced umpire. Ultimately Pakistan were cleared of ball tampering, but Inzamam-Ul-Haq, the Pakistan Captain, had to serve a ban for bringing the game into disrepute. Hair has since been barred from umpiring matches involving Test playing nations, but Doctrove has continued to serve a full member of the Elite Panel.
Despite being involved in these controversies, Doctrove is still regarded as one of the world's top umpires, and his accurate decision making, along with his relaxed approach on-field, has earned him the respect of the players and has seen him through the difficult points in his career. He will be one of the umpires very much at the heart of the 2007 Cricket World Cup which is taking place in his native West Indies.
[edit] Umpiring statistics
| First | Last | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | West Indies v Pakistan at St John's, May 2000 | South Africa v Pakistan at Port Elizabeth, Jan 2007 | 11 |
| ODIs | West Indies v England at Kingstown, Apr 1998 | South Africa v Bangladesh at Guyana, Apr 2007 | 65 |
Forthcoming Appointments
Super 8 stage of 2007 Cricket World Cup.
