ICC CWC’19: Umpire Ian Gould retires

Dubai: With Saturday's India vs Sri Lanka clash at Headingley as his last, English umpire Ian Gould drew curtains on his umpiring career.

An accomplished wicket-keeper, Gould was part of the squad that toured Australia in 1982-83, and in the fourth Test came onto the field as a substitute during Australia's chase of 292 for victory in the Test and the series.

First, as a player, he kept wicket for England at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 1983, playing 18 ODIs in total, as well as more than 600 combined first-class and List A games.

Nicknamed Gunner due to his time in the Arsenal youth set-up before settling on cricket, Gould played for Sussex, Middlesex and even had a spell with New Zealand county side Auckland.

After calling time on his playing career in the 1990s, Gould then took up a coaching role with Middlesex.

However, it is as an umpire that he has gained recognition. For more than a decade he has been a regular on the international circuit, notable for his practice of not employing a standard ball counter, instead of using six Bahraini Dinars to count deliveries.

The 61-year-old made his international umpiring debut 13 years ago in a T20 international between England and Sri Lanka in Southampton, a thriller won by the visitors by just two runs.

An ODI debut followed five days later in a match between the same two teams, and the following year he got World Cup debut.

This is now his fourth ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, with arguably the pinnacle of his career coming in 2011 in Mohali when Gould was one of the men in the middle for the World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan.

He had joined the ICC's Elite Panel of umpires two years previously, umpiring the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Gould finishes his career having umpired 74 Tests and 140 ODIs.