It was never a case of persuasion.

For Ralph Gosein, being asked to attend umpiring courses afforded him the opportunity of being close to the sport he so loved and yet was unable to be a part of.

He was fresh out of Fatima College and with only a maximum of 88 lbs., covering his small frame, Ralph opted to confine himself to trotting up to the Savannah on Saturdays and Sundays, looking at the men in flannels as they pursued their goals on the cricketing fields.

In fact, at age 22, it seemed as though looking on would be the height to which his association with the sport would reach.

But like so many other instances in which good things seem to appear from nowhere fate played its part.

Ralph obtained a job at Industry and Commerce (formerly Control Board) and became closely associated with the then great West Indian test umpire Eric Lee Kow.

"Lee Kow would see me in the Savannah every weekend looking at local games and he knew how interested I was," explained Ralph.

"One day, during work he came across to me and mentioned these umpiring classes which were being conducted by Englishman Norman Ross.

"And before long I started attending classes and learning the rules of the game."

At the end of four months, Ralph Godfrey Gosein was on the way to becoming one of the leading men to stand on the cricketing fields in the West Indies as a Test umpire.

"I remember how honoured I felt when I was given my first Class match to do."

"The man at the other end was Lee Kow. Ironically, there was a decision about which I had to consult him and up to this day I still feel we made the wrong decision then."

Gosein's first Test came eleven years later in 1965, when Bobby Simpson's Australians took on the might of the West Indies at the Queen's Park Oval.

"When I got to the ground and saw the amount of people, I nearly turned back for home."

"Talk about butterflies…Huh…they just keep fluttering around my stomach."

Gosein confides, however, that after about three hours, he relaxed and began to really see himself in true perspective.

"Boy, was I glad there were no close decisions to make during those first few hours of the match."

Although that was his only game during that series, Ralph's initial test was passed with flying colours and indeed his name was soon short-listed as Test material.

To say that he never looked back on his career would be untrue.

There was one occasion in particular, on which the soft-spoken umpire felt that he was never going to take the field again.

In was in 1973 when the West Indies team, led by Guyanese Rohan Kanhai, was playing against the Aussies in Jamaica.

"Ian Chappell was the batsman and I can't remember the bowler offhand. Ian swept at a ball going down the leg side and the wicketkeeper who was Mike Findlay caught the ball sending all the fielders up in the air shouting their appeals."

"Now, every umpire would know that this is one of the hardest decisions to make because with the bat facing downwards, there is no way an umpire can see bat hitting ball, so my decision was 'not out'."

"The incident took place with just a few minutes remaining before lunch and as usual at lunch time I went about my usual routine."

"In those days, there was no special room for umpires so we hung our coats and washed our faces in the same room as the players."

"So lunch time, as usual I went about doing this. But obviously Kanhai was very cut up with my 'not out' decision with Chappell, so while in the room he was using some very unhealthy language inquiring of the manager 'Whey alyuh get dem so and so umpire from?'"

"The cursing went on for a while and when I could no longer take it I turned to Kanhai and asked him "Excuse me, but are you referring to me?"

"That was a very big mistake I made, for Kanhai turned and started to direct his 'cuss words' to me with 'Who the so and so tell you to come in this room', 'why the so and so you don't get out.'"

"I was really embarrassed and humiliated."

"I mean this is happening in front of all the players. I cannot really explain how I felt at the moment. I just left the room and went to the pavilion."

"I did not even bother to go and eat and in fact I was not thinking of going back to the field. My first thought was to get to my hotel, collect my things and get on the first flight back to Trinidad and forget about umpiring."

"But the West Indian manager Clyde Walcott came to me and saw my tears. Clyde did a good job in consoling me and I went back to the field and resumed my job."

"The truth is I did not really know what was happening on the field of play in that session."

When asked which countries he hated umpiring with, Gosein quickly replied, "It's Australia and England."

"Most foreign teams curse a hell of a lot, but these two, although their abuses may not be directed at the umpires, are the worst behaved on the field. On the other hand I think the team I enjoyed umpiring mostly with are the Indians."

"They are without a doubt the most disciplined team on the field."

As for the individuals, Gosein does not hesitate in naming controversial former Australian captain Ian Chappell ad Pakistani Safraz Nawaz as the two 'worst behaved."

He explains that Bev Congdon, the former New Zealand captain is the most irritating player he has encountered on the field of play."

"He was always dropping some foolish remarks whenever a decision went against him."

Turning his attention to the better part of his job, Gosein names Sir Garfield Sobers as the 'gentleman' of cricket."

"I believe this is one of the qualities which made Gary so great. He always accepted decisions whichever way they went."

Also coming in for praise were India's Sunil Gavaskar, Pakistani Asif Iqbal and our own Deryck Murray.

I asked Gosein which was the happiest moment of his career and he replied: "It was when I made a decision that there was t be no play on the extra day between the West Indies and the Australians in 1978."

"I know many people did not agree with my decision but when the Umpires board sent to the M.C.C. to get their decision, they said I had done the correct thing".

In that game with six overs remaining and one West Indian batsman to be dismissed for an Australian victory, the Jamaicans threw missiles on the field forcing play to be called off.

The captains and managers wanted to finish the six overs the remaining day but Gosein did not agree with the decision and refused to play.

The M.C.C. agreed with that decision.

When questioned about the most peculiar decision he had to adjudicate on, Ralph answered, "It was not in a Test match that this happened."

"It took place in the Savannah when Paragon were playing against Harvard. Pascall Roberts was about to bowl to Bernard Maraj, when the ball slipped out of his hand and rolled down the pitch.

"Bernard, quite rightly, called for the ball and left his crease to go down the wicket. He tried to hit the ball, which was at a stand still, but on the two occasions he fired he missed. The fieldsman closest to the ball, after seeing Maraj's miss, grabbed the ball and threw it to the keeper who took off the bails.

"There is no law in the game to cover a dismissal like that, but I thought that in the same way the batsman was entitled to strike the ball for runs, it was in the same way the bowler should have a chance to get him out so ruled Maraj 'run out'.

"The umpires association wrote M.C.C. about that decision and again they agreed that my decision was correct."

Gosein believes that the idea of getting non-locals to umpire matches will not be changing anything.

"What they will be doing is questioning the integrity of the umpires and that's a bad thing. Getting foreign umpires will never solve the problems when batsmen continue to show disapproval of decisions."

"What they really need is for players to be penalized."

"It is the players' behaviour which causes crowd behaviour and besides regardless of where they are from umpires are still humans and likely to make mistakes."

Gosein feels that the players' attitude today is not as it used to be in the past.

"What you have now is money men, all they are interested in is getting selected so their money would be coming in."

"So you have a case where an umpire gives a batsman out and his pick is in jeopardy for the tour of Australia, obviously the player will show his disapproval and the man to get the blows will be the umpire."

Gosein explained that in his last six Test appearances five of them had bottle-throwing incidents.

"I would hate to believe that it was because my standard as a Test umpire had dropped that these incidents occurred. I more believe it was because of the present day attitude of the so-called 'professionals'."

"You see, no one appreciates the work of an umpire, he is the only person involved in every moment of the game, from ball one until the very last ball."

"He does not even have time for a breather like all the other players. Whenever he does a good job, it’s what you expect from him, but let him make one mistake and the whole world forgets he is human."

A batsman may make a bad shot and get out, that's okay and the bowler may bowl a short ball and get hit for six no big thing but can an umpire afford to make to make just one of these?

"It's a tough would out there and you better believe it. Sometimes I feel as though I am in space there's no one to talk to, no one to consult and hardly a smile."

"Everything must be perfect".

That Ralph Gosein would go down in history as one of our best umpires ever is without a doubt.

His decision to retire in 1980 came on a good length ball on a sticky wicket.

But from 1985 until the day, he decided to call it quits, his name was one of the most respected and admired in the minds of players and administrators of the game of cricket.

On his retirement of the game, the affable Gosein was at the helm of the Trinidad and Tobago Umpires Council.

During the outstanding career as an umpire, Gosein was honoured by many organizations for his contribution to cricket and sports in general.'

Among those he cherished was the Humming Bird Gold Medal by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and his recognition by the "Concrete Stand" posse earlier this year.

Upon his untimely death last Friday, Gosein had just returned from New York where he attended the annual general meeting of the West Indies Cricket Umpires Council, where he was re-elected executive vice-president.

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