Don Oslear
It was entirely appropriate that the ECB was represented at the funeral of a man who in many ways was a trailblazer for those non ex-professional players who have made it as umpires at the First Class level . To those of us of a certain age , Don Oslear was the ‘ one who hadn ’ t played ’ who first made it to Test level . The more avuncular Nigel Plews joined him some years later of course , but it was Don who we assumed had opened the door through which others have gratefully followed .
In 1975 , when he was appointed to the First Class List ( according to Wisden ‘ after some good performances in Second XI matches ’), the Playfair Annual told us of his connections with ice hockey . It didn ’ t tell us of his now well-documented time in the family fish business , or indeed of his soccer goalkeeping which very nearly earned him a game for Bill Shankly ’ s Grimsby Town . He played and umpired club cricket in his beloved Lincolnshire ( his father was Mayor of Cleethorpes ) and had been recruited to stand in those Second XI matches by Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire . Once on the list his progress was impressive : he stood in five Tests in 1980 and 1981 , and his colleagues were the illustrious Messrs . Constant , Meyer , Palmer and Bird ( 2 ). How proud he must have been to have been involved in Ian Botham ’ s famous Ashes series . In all he stood in 360 First Class matches , 338 List A games , 8 ODIs and a World Cup semi-final ( in 1983 ). He was doubtless disappointed never to have been appointed to a domestic final despite officiating in 10 semi-finals . He was a great ambassador for ACU ( and ACU & S and ECB ACO later ), talking (!) in the winter all over the country to groups of aspiring umpires .
As a local I remember the championship match at Southend in 1982 when injured striker and runner ended up at the bowler ’ s end ; the exchange umpire from Pakistan seemed taken by surprise when a single alert fielder took off the striker ’ s end bails and appealed , and a ( perhaps delighted ?) Don gave Paul Downton out . There had already been two ‘ wickets ’ off Oslear-called No balls .
Famously , of course , he was the third official in the ODI at Lord ’ s in 1992 – a support umpire then with no TV duties – when an allegation of tampering saw the ball changed during an interval , and he wrote a subsequent report for the Test and County Cricket Board ( TCCB ). He gave evidence for Botham and Allan Lamb in their High Court case with Imran Khan , Don by then being referred to by many in the game as the ultimate expert on the Laws and their interpretation . Subsequently , in one of his three published books , Tampering with Cricket , he did not hold back with his opinions on what was wrong in the game and how such should be dealt with . Controversy did seem to follow him somewhat – his career was not short of incidents – and there were some who felt that he was less than uncomfortable with the attention .
In his final years before compulsory retirement at the end of the 1993 season , he was the elected chairman of the First Class Panel and their spokesman in dealings with the Board , and indeed it may have been his earlier directness and willingness to speak out which by then had probably cost him in the popularity stakes . His pride and self-confidence in his own knowledge of the Laws could make him appear dogmatic and patronising , and he certainly had an abrasive streak which did not endear him to players or indeed on occasions to colleagues . Like many , he probably couldn ’ t understand why a more diplomatic approach to apparently clear-cut issues was required ( on or off the field ), and why boat-rocking was undesirable . The abiding memory of this colleague though , is of a man whose love for the game and its traditions and standards was paramount . On the field , very importantly as we all know , you always knew he was there for you – even if sometimes his style might not have been yours .
After his retirement it was no surprise that he just carried on umpiring . He did countless more matches whether it be with MCC , county Second XI , club matches in Yorkshire or J P Getty ’ s teams at Wormsley where Cricket Archive has him standing in his final match in 2011 ( aged 82 ). He observed , mentored , assessed and never lost his enthusiasm .
Thanks Don , you were a one-off . Paul Adams
Former Test umpire Don Oslear , seen here with Ian Botham bowling against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in 1980 .
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