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Jaipur: All umpires officiating in the Champions Trophy came up to the practice area of the Indian team at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday.
It was a great sight to see umpire Steve Bucknor, Simon Taufel, Daryl Harper and Billy Bowden chatting with the players and cracking jokes. While all of them seem extremely stern at work, they painted a very different picture off the field.
Despite being in the thick of action, umpires rarely attract star value as much as a player does.
Most of them are a neglected lot, except a few like Dicky Bird and David Shepherd who were the most honoured.
Asked about their unusual visit to a practice area, Harper said: "We were bored sitting inside the hotel and needed to get a feel of the outside atmosphere. It is always a good idea to check out what's the mood outside."
Harper has a great sense of humour although it is Billy Bowden who portrays himself as a humorous character with his unique style of umpiring. Harper tactfully skipped the question on the controversial ball tampering incident by removing his hat.
Displaying his bald patch, he said: "Look here, there is no hair. I am Harper."
On the experiments with the hawk eye, he had a witty reply. "If I could stand at the bowler's end and predict with the accuracy of a hawk eye, I would be a rocket scientist rather than an umpire," he pointed out.
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