Tony Hill

Anthony Lloyd Hill, popularly known as Tony Hill, is a former international umpire and a member of elite panel of ICC umpires. He was popular for his sheer accuracy and explicit decisions during his career.

Background

Hill was born on 26 June 1951 at Auckland in new Zealand. He didn’t had any background in the first class cricket but he established himself in the umpiring arena as a popular name.

Umpiring career

Hill made his ODI debut on 6 March 1998 in a match between New Zealand and Zimbabwe played at Napier. The task of umpiring was much difficult back then because of the absence of UDRS or any such system but by his calm and composed attitude, Hill used to give his decision accurately.

He made his test debut on 18 December 2001 in a match between New Zealand and Bangladesh played at Hamilton. It was a completely New Zealand dominated show as they bowled out Bangladesh in both the innings.

He made his T20 debut on 17 February 2005 in a high scoring match between New Zealand and Australia played at Auckland.

He also officated in 3 group A matches of 2007 World Cup at St. Kitts.

After his 11 year career as an umpire, he was included in the full elite panel of ICC in 2009.

Since then, he was appointed in the matches outside New Zealand as a neutral umpire. He became a regional training officer in the Northern Districts of Auckland and worked for training and mentoring up-and-coming umpires. Additionally, he runs an online Q&A forum for umpires of all levels.

Stats

Hill umpired in a total of 40 Test matches in a career that spanned over fifteen years. He also umpired in 96 ODI matches and 37 T20 matches.

Controversies

With the introduction of DRS, Hill was among the umpires who were slightly bamboozled by it’s impact. His non-decision on the eventually overturned lbw call on Ryan Harris is one of the all-time howlers. His decisions as a 3rd Umpire in the Ashes 2013 also became controversial.

Retirement

Hill officiated in his final T20 match in 14 February 2012 in a match between New Zealand and Zimbabwe. The final matches in Test and ODI came the following year, in a match between Australia-England at Chester le street and Australia-Sri Lanka at The Oval.