How many years have you been umpiring cricket and how did you get involved?
This is my fourth season umpiring. When my wife became pregnant with our first child at the end of 2007 I decided that would be my last season as a player. Over the winter I started to consider umpiring as a way of staying involved without having the commitment to playing every weekend and training during the week. Initially it was for one season in 2008/2009, to see how it went, feedback from captains and players gave me the encouragement to keep going after that first season
How many hours a week do you spend umpiring?
Normally a match will have me tied up from 11am to 7pm on a Saturday and there are times I will also have to umpire a match on a Sunday as well. Occasionally for an appointment to a representative match I will leave Rotorua on a Friday and not be home until late Sunday night.
What attributes do you need to be New Zealand's favourite club cricket umpire?
People management is a key skill. Cricketers, like any sportspeople, are emotionally charged people and get "white line fever" when they walk on the field. It's up to the umpires to work with the captains to manage these emotions to ensure player behaviour doesn't cross the line and become unacceptable. Getting something wrong in the middle, decision-wise, is never a good feeling. Being able to acknowledge you have made a mistake is really important in being able to put it behind you and move on quickly. Players should also understand that umpires are only human and as such we will make the occasional blunder - just as players drop catches, bowl no-balls and wides or play poor shots.
The key is to learn from them, hopefully avoid making them again and continually improve. It also helps having a supportive family. Mum and Dad initially of course, now it's Corinne and the kids who support my umpiring and for that I'm grateful and have a lot of making up to do in winter.
Where did your love of cricket stem from?
I grew up in the remote Urewera National Park and with only 30-odd kids at my school it wasn't until I went to boarding school in Gisborne that I played any organised cricket. I spent a summer in England as a 10-year-old where my uncles and cousins all played for the same club team. I spent most Saturdays on the boundary supporting, giving throw downs and running out drinks, so that's where it probably started.
How much cricket do you watch on television?
Not as much as I'd like. When the TV is on it's normally Nick Junior or Disney Channel.
Do you think Twenty20 Cricket is ruining the future of test cricket?
I think there is the danger of overdoing it in terms of the amount of T20 played but at the moment that is the format drawing the crowds in New Zealand and around the the world. It appears people are happier to invest their leisure dollar in a three-hour T20 match rather than ODI's or test matches. In terms of time I suppose its not too different from going to a movie. Ask any player though and test match cricket will always be the pinnacle - so I think the future of test match cricket is secure.
Name your favourite Black Cap?
Daniel Vettori - I was at the Basin Reserve when he played his first test as a gangly 18-year-old batting at number 11. To see the way he has developed into a world class allrounder through sheer hard work, determination and making the most of his talents is a reminder to everyone to not rest on your past achievements but to always look to improve. I think those qualities make him one of our greatest cricketers, probably second only to Sir Richard Hadlee.
What would be the best game of cricket you have ever seen?
New Zealand beating Australia in Hobart at the end of last year. Having been soundly beaten the game before, the Black Caps, with a young and inexperienced team, pulled off a great turnaround to beat the Aussies in their own backyard for the first time in 25 years.
All the young players stood up - Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult and Dean Brownlie - and the result has really been put into perspective with the Australians going on to hammer the Indians.
Tell us three things about yourself most people probably wouldn't know.
I couldn't think of three things but I am training my 9-month-old daughter to umpire.
