Stephen Grant Randell (born 19 February 1956) is a former
Australian Test cricket match umpire, the first to come from
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
. He was convicted in 1999 of 15 counts of
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
against nine schoolgirls of ages 10–12 while teaching at a Catholic
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
between 1981 and 1982.
Biography
Randell was born in
Hobart, Tasmania
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...
.
He umpired 36
Test matches between 1984 and 1998 the highest number by an Australian umpire to that time (the previous highest was
Tony Crafter
Anthony Ronald (Tony) Crafter, (born 5 December 1940 in Mount Barker, South Australia), is a retired Australian Test cricket match umpire.
He umpired 33 Test matches between 1979 and 1992, the highest number by an Australian umpire to that tim ...
’s 33 matches). His first match was between
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
at
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on 22 to 27 December 1984, a drawn match with Australia holding on in the final innings, thanks to a determined century by
Andrew Hilditch
Andrew Mark Jefferson Hilditch (born 20 May 1956) is a former Australian international cricketer who played in 18 Test matches and eight One Day Internationals from 1979 to 1985. He played for New South Wales from 1977 to 1981 and for South A ...
to deny the West Indies a 12th consecutive Test victory. Randell's partner was
Peter McConnell
Peter Nelson McConnell (born April 19, 1960), also known as Peter Mc, is an American video game composer and musician, best known for his work at LucasArts and for composing the soundtracks for every '' Sly Cooper'' game since the second insta ...
.
In 1994, the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...
introduced a policy of appointing one umpire to each Test match from a non-participating country. Ten of Randell's matches were played outside Australia, and did not involve Australia. His last Test match involving Australia was against
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
at
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
on 30 January to 3 February 1998, finishing in a draw, with captain
Mark Taylor dominating the first innings with 169 and
Mark Waugh
Mark Edward Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, after previously making his One Day International (ODI) debu ...
scoring a century in the second innings. Randell's colleague was the New Zealander,
Doug Cowie.
[
Randell's last Test match was between ]Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
and Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
at Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
on 21–25 March 1998. Randell umpired 88 One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
(ODI) matches between 1984 and 1998. He umpired one women's ODI in 1991. Altogether, he umpired 119 first-class matches in his career between 1980 and 1998.[
At the club level, Randell was a left-hand batsman for the South Hobart and Sandy Bay clubs. Off the field he was a school-teacher with the Tasmanian Education Department.
]
Sexual assault conviction
His cricket and professional careers ended when he was convicted in August 1999 of 15 separate counts of sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
against nine schoolgirls of ages 10–12 while teaching at a Catholic primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
between 1981 and 1982. He was sentenced to four years jail with a two-year minimum, and was released on parole in May 2002.[
]
See also
* List of Test cricket umpires
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby uni ...
* List of One Day International cricket umpires
This is a list of cricket umpires who have officiated at least one men's One Day International (ODI) match. As of October 2022, 418 umpires have officiated in an ODI match. The first ODI match took place on 5 January 1971 between Australia and ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randell, Steve
1956 births
Living people
Australian educators
Australian One Day International cricket umpires
Australian people convicted of child sexual abuse
Australian Test cricket umpires
Sportspeople from Hobart