Johannesburg: The West Indies may not have made it to the World Cup final for the last 20 years, but there has been a Jamaican in the last three finals and will make his record presence felt when India takes on Australia on Sunday.Umpire Steve Bucknor, a native of Montego Bay in Jamaica, will overtake Englishman Dickie Bird's record of officiating in three World Cup finals when he stands in his 111th ODI at the Wanderers.Popular among cricketers as "Slow Death", for his characteristic style of nodding before giving a decision, Bucknor looks forward to officiate in the next edition in 2007 in the West Indies, where he plans to call it a day.A "perfect combination" of Bucknor and Englishman David Shepherd will stand in their joint third final on Sunday. "We know each other well, the way we do things, and we get on well," Bucknor was quoted as saying by the 'Trinidad Express'."We feel at ease with each other and the International Cricket Council (ICC) seems to have recognised this," he said. Now 57, Bucknor will be 61 during the next edition, and he hopes to be fit even then."Shep is now 62 and I'll only be 61 during the 2007 tournament so I'm hoping (to officiate)," he said. Bucknor's bitter experiences as a player when he played club cricket for Montego Bay forced him to don the white coatand is now among the ICC's elite panel of umpires.The Jamaican was also a FIFA registered umpire, who supervised one World Cup qualifying match between Costa Rica and the Dutch Antilles before turning his full-time attention to cricket. PTI

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Shepherd&Bucknor to have the 'final' say

Tags: cricket, west indies, world cup final, india vs australia, west indian umpire steve bucknor, montego bay in jamaica, english umpire dickie bird, english umpire david shepherd, international cricket council, icc, fifa umpire steve bucknor.