A bit like being on an oil rig in the North Sea

Talking to Jeff Longley of The Press, former New Zealand test captain Jeff Crowe gives an insight into the life of an ICC match referee, a job he has undertaken for the past five years:

Crowe lives in Florida, where he has been based for the past seven years with his wife and two pre-school children, but is contemplating a move to Europe before the possibility of an eventual return to New Zealand.

“The beauty of this job is that you can live anywhere in the world,” he said.

“I’m often away for a month, which is full on because you follow the series then get a month off. It’s a bit like being on an oil rig in the North Sea.”

Aside from the jet-setting lifestyle and the hard work involved, Crowe touches on the new Umpires’ Review System and the one event his tenure is likely to be remembered for – the embarassing errors made by match officials at the 2007 World Cup final:

The teams came off for bad light but then went back out when the match should have been called off.

“It was one of those horror moments,” Crowe said.

“We just got it wrong and seemed to freeze. Somebody said something about coming back and it seemed to be lost that we had completed 20 overs to ensure a match.”

Source: The Press, 30 January 2010