Mike Burns is looking forward to the most challenging period of his impressive emergence among the cream of England’s umpires.
The former Somerset captain only joined the first class ranks in 2016, but was promoted to the international list four years later and umpired his first ODI when England played Ireland at Southampton in July 2020.
Now Burns is looking forward to being involved in the one day international and T20 series against both India and South Africa over the coming months. He will also be officiating in The Hundred for the first time, having been denied the opportunity by illness last year.
“I needed an appendix operation, which kept me out of the game for a month at just the wrong time," Burns said. “I had been down to do a few more internationals and there was a chance I might have been involved in the Under-19 World Cup in West Indies, so it was very frustrating.
“That only makes the summer ahead more exciting. I can expect a few noisy encounters at the England games, but that only lifts the arousal levels.
“It’s hard to put your finger on the difference when stepping up to the international stage. It’s like when you appeared in finals or semi-finals as a player. You don’t consciously concentrate harder as an umpire in international cricket, but it seems to happen automatically.”
Burns has already umpired four T20 internationals, having established himself among the most respected match officials in the county game. He hails from Barrow-in-Furness, but became an adopted West countryman after moving to Somerset from Warwickshire as a player in 1997.
Mike went on to captain the Cidermen for two seasons at a time when they did not have the strongest of sides and enhanced his popularity, despite the on-field struggles.
He retired as a professional player at the end of the 2005 season, but went on to represent Bridgwater and Taunton St Andrews at club level while continuing to occupy his current home at North Petherton.
I asked Burns what he had learned about umpiring since taking it up and graduating to the first class reserve list in 2012.
“The first thing you find out is that the job is a lot harder than you think it is when you are a player,” he laughed. “It’s all about forging relationships, with the likes of groundstaff, players, coaches and other umpires.
“You learn to try and stay as calm as possible. It’s a bit like being a duck. There is a lot going on under the water, but you aim to look as serene as possible on the surface.”
How about coping with inevitable wrong decisions? “That’s not easy. You have to find a way to park it, but you don’t just forget about them just like that,” he said.
“It was the same when you played a stupid shot to get out as a player. What you have to do is stop such moments from damaging what you are trying to do going forward.”
At 53, Burns still has plenty of time to fulfil the ultimate ambition of umpiring in a Test Match. But he is more than happy to have got this far.
“There is only one more step after getting on the international list and that is the elite panel,” he explained. “You are competing with the best umpires from all over the world to get on that and there needs to be a spread of nationalities.
“If I got to do a Test, it would be great. But the fact that I am doing one-day and T20 internationals is beyond the expectations I had when switching from playing and if it doesn’t happen so be it.”
