Australian umpire Simon Taufel, who has been considered as one of the best umpires the world has ever seen, has decided to resign from his post of Cricket Australia’s (CA) Head of Umpiring citing personal reasons. It has also been learned that Simon has taken the decision in a hurry as he took a leave last week and decided not to join back as his contract will be ending on August 31.

Taufel, who started featuring in Test matches in 2000 at the age of 29, was known for his professional and meticulous approach towards the match official accreditation course and his tenure saw umpires getting regularly assessed by match referees in both Australian first-class cricket and the Big Bash League.

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Simon was the head of the panel which has been picking match referees and umpires since 2016 when he was brought in by CA’s head of performance Pat Howard as per reports in The Age. Hailing from Sydney, he featured in 74 Tests and 174 ODIs besides 34 T20Is between 1999 and 2012 – a career which second to none of the accomplished cricketers. He was also adjudged as the ICC umpire of the year for each year between 2004 and 2008.

After retiring as the on-field umpire, Taufel worked as umpire performance and training manager with the International Cricket Council from November 2012 before joining CA. Taufel’s reason to quit might be his frustration with the CA in recent times. Australian cricket has seen some turmoil ever since the ball-tampering incident happened in South Africa earlier this year and saw a year-long ban being imposed on two of their top cricketers – Steve Smith and David Warner.

CEO James Sutherland has also started serving 12-month notice period and his successor is yet to be interviewed. The selection committee has also been renewed and new captains and new coaches also in place for the Kangaroos. Various other officials have also left and the CA is in for a complete overhaul.