It was sad to see the last test match of Steve Bucknor umpiring. End of an era. Bucknor, 62 year old Madala from West Indies has been the face of cricket umpiring since 1989. He was standing in the sun with his hawk eye for 5 cricket world cups, 128 test matches and 179 ODIs. He has been around since the time I started watching cricket and when South Africa came back into the International cricket arena. Eish the Hansie Cronje days. Mcmillan, Alan Donald, Fanie de Villiers - remember these outjies.

He was a very colorful yet very calm and cool headed umpire. Very patiently he would keep the bowlers in suspense and then lift his finger. They gave him the nickname “Slow death Bucknor”.

Umpiring must be a tough job and lots of pressure. You have to stand still the whole day in the heat and sometimes for 5 days and watch the ball and batsmen. I am sure you have to learn not to blink at the wrong time. You have to have mental alertness and have real great concentration. LBWs, it amazes me how some of them are spot on. It must take years of practise. Now with technology, 3rd umpire and referrals I am sure it takes some pressure of them but it really shows how spot on guyz like Steve Bucknor are when they make decisions in split seconds that sometimes I can’t see after 10 replays.

Steve Bucknors wife is with him in Cape Town as he bids farewell to the game. He has a huge family. He is a father of 7 children, 5 girls and 2 boys. I am sure he could start his own girls cricket team :). I was amazed to find out that Steve Bucknor was initially a FIFA World Cup referee and had an early retirement from that.

The Umpire that teases Andre Nel took his farewell lap and said his good byes at the Newlands cricket ground where South Africa beat Australia on 22 March 2009.

Bye Bye Bucknor. Hamba Kahle…

Steve Bucknor - legend leaves cricket

Interview with Steve Bucknor during last test

This is the last Test Steve Bucknor umpired

Full Scorecard from Cricinfo

South Africa v Australia

2008/09 season

	Australia 1st innings			R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
		PJ Hughes	lbw b Harris	33	101	64	4	0	51.56
		SM Katich	c Khan b Harris	55	229	160	7	0	34.37
		RT Ponting	c Boucher b Morkel	0	6	6	0	0	0.00
		MEK Hussey	b Steyn	20	27	20	4	0	100.00
		MJ Clarke	b Steyn	0	9	3	0	0	0.00
		BJ Haddin	lbw b Harris	42	101	67	8	0	62.68
		AB McDonald	c Kallis b Ntini	13	71	44	1	0	29.54
		MG Johnson	c Prince b Steyn	35	73	54	6	0	64.81
		PM Siddle	c de Villiers b Ntini	0	2	2	0	0	0.00
		BE McGain	c de Villiers b Steyn	2	22	14	0	0	14.28
		BW Hilfenhaus	not out	0	3	0	0	0	-
		Extras	(lb 6, w 1, nb 2)	9
		Total	(all out; 72 overs; 327 mins)	209	(2.90 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	DW Steyn	16	5	56	4	3.50	(1nb)
	M Ntini	17	7	38	2	2.23	(1w)
	JH Kallis	10	2	31	0	3.10
	JA Morkel	12	3	44	1	3.66	(1nb)
	PL Harris	17	5	34	3	2.00

	South Africa 1st innings			R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
		I Khan	c & b Siddle	20	71	64	1	0	31.25
		AG Prince	c Haddin b Hilfenhaus	150	358	249	19	2	60.24
		HM Amla	c Haddin b Johnson	46	117	88	8	0	52.27
		JH Kallis	c & b Hilfenhaus	102	269	163	14	2	62.57
		AB de Villiers	c McDonald b Katich	163	313	196	12	7	83.16
		JP Duminy	b Johnson	7	37	21	1	0	33.33
		MV Boucher	c Ponting b Johnson	12	34	26	3	0	46.15
		JA Morkel	b McDonald	58	85	71	10	1	81.69
		PL Harris	c Haddin b Johnson	27	70	49	4	0	55.10
		DW Steyn	c Clarke b Katich	0	3	4	0	0	0.00
		M Ntini	not out	4	11	6	1	0	66.66
		Extras	(b 19, lb 24, w 9, nb 10)	62
		Total	(all out; 154.3 overs; 679 mins)	651	(4.21 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	MG Johnson	37.3	5	148	4	3.94	(6nb, 2w)
	BW Hilfenhaus	34	4	133	2	3.91	(4nb, 3w)
	PM Siddle	35	15	67	1	1.91
	BE McGain	18	2	149	0	8.27
	AB McDonald	27	7	102	1	3.77
	SM Katich	3	1	9	2	3.00

	Australia 2nd innings			R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
		PJ Hughes	c Kallis b Harris	32	57	46	4	0	69.56
		SM Katich	c Duminy b Harris	54	248	159	4	1	33.96
		RT Ponting	c Boucher b Steyn	12	35	24	1	0	50.00
		MEK Hussey	c Duminy b Steyn	39	197	153	5	0	25.49
		MJ Clarke	b Steyn	47	128	106	7	0	44.33
		BJ Haddin	c Duminy b Harris	18	40	27	3	0	66.66
		AB McDonald	c de Villiers b Harris	68	170	99	8	0	68.68
		MG Johnson	not out	123	154	103	11	5	119.41
		PM Siddle	c de Villiers b Harris	0	2	1	0	0	0.00
		BE McGain	run out (sub [SA Engelbrecht]/Steyn)	0	5	2	0	0	0.00
		BW Hilfenhaus	c Prince b Harris	12	23	16	2	0	75.00
		Extras	(b 8, lb 2, w 2, nb 5)	17
		Total	(all out; 121.5 overs; 532 mins)	422	(3.46 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	DW Steyn	27	5	96	3	3.55	(1nb, 1w)
	M Ntini	19	6	66	0	3.47	(1w)
	JA Morkel	20	1	88	0	4.40	(2nb)
	PL Harris	42.5	9	127	6	2.96	(1nb)
	JH Kallis	10	4	21	0	2.10	(1nb)
	JP Duminy	3	1	14	0	4.66