Sad News

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

Some sad news of the passing of one of our comrades - E.J. Smith. Mr Not Bitter and I last saw him at the Footscray vs Richmond match he was enjoying being back at Whitten Oval :(

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Very sad news indeed, my condolences to his family. I enjoyed reading his posts and especially his cricket insights.

[Twodogs]

Vale Rex.

He came around to my place one day and regailed me with stories about cricket and life. Gun bloke.

[GVGjr]

My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

[bornadog]

Very sad news indeed, loved reading his opinion on different matters.

Some great Cricket stories when he was a test umpire.

Condolences to his family and friends.

[Bulldog4life]

Condolences to Rex's family and friends.

[The Underdog]

Very sad to hear. Condolences to all family & friends. He'll be missed around here.

[jeemak]

Sad news. Best wishes to his family and friends.

Good contributor to this board, and will be missed.

[bornadog]

Rex Whitehead passes away

UPDATED 27 JUNE, 2014 4:48PM AEST | BY DAN ALLAN, CRICKET.COM.AU

We remember Test umpire with eventful career

In sad news for the Australian cricket community, former Test umpire Rex Whitehead has passed away aged 65.
Whitehead recently suffered a massive stroke and did not recover.

One of just 90 Australians to officiate in a Test, the Victorian also stood in 14 One Day Internationals and 15 first-class matches between 1979 and 1983, and umpired a women’s Test between Australia and New Zealand in 1979.
Despite standing in just the four Tests, including the entire 1981 Australia-India series, Whitehead had one of the more eventful careers in the history of the game and was the catalyst for one of cricket’s most ugly spats.

With the third Test at the MCG hanging in the balance, Whitehead gave India captain Sunil Gavaskar out lbw off a Dennis Lillee delivery jagging back in towards middle stump.
Clearly unimpressed with the decision, Gavaskar ordered non-striker Chetan Chauhan to follow him off the field and the match threatened to be lost to a forfeit.

“Gavaskar reckoned he’d hit it, but I was at square-leg and knew that he hadn’t,” Whitehead’s good friend, and umpiring partner on that day, Mel Johnson told cricket.com.au.
“But Gavaskar hadn’t scored a run in the series thus far so he took them off the field.

“I remember Greg Chappell asked us, ‘What happens now?’ and I said, ‘Well, there’s a set of laws that we’ve got to follow and if he doesn’t want to play by them then the match is forfeited.’
“But Rex said, ‘I’m not standing out here in a Test match to see the game forfeited. Let’s get them back out on the field one way or another’.
“Fortunately, the manager (Shahid Durrani) pushed Chauhan back out and Dilip Vengsarkar (India’s number three) came with him.”

That decision proved to be a good one for India, with Kapil Dev running through the Australia batsmen in the last innings to secure a 59-run victory.
“It was all down to his determination to not let the game end in a forfeit,” Johnson said.
“Rex was going to do everything possible to make sure that it didn’t end that way.”

The Victorian’s last Test was the incredible 1982 Boxing Day encounter between England and Australia at the MCG.
The home side was in dire straits at 9-218, and needed a further 74 runs to win, when Jeff Thompson joined Allan Border in the middle of the MCG.

The pair went on to tally 70 runs for the last wicket, a juggling catch in the slips ending the last-ditch charge three runs short of the England target.
“You can always say they were good after they’ve died,” said Johnson.
“But he (Whitehead) really was a class umpire that took it very very seriously.
“He hated making mistakes, as we all do, but he was just a beaut to work with.”
And what of the man outside of cricket?

“He was great,” said Johnson. “Loved a beer.
“Never wanted any of that half-strength stuff though – that was Rex’s attitude on most things.”
The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Cricket Australia

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Sad news.

Condolences to the family.

[Go_Dogs]

Sad to hear, condolences to his family and friends.

Was a great contributor to WOOF and as others have stated, his stories from his umpiring days were a real treat.

[lemmon]

Condolences, was shocked when I read the news on the CA site. One of my favourite contributors to woof

[Eastdog]

My condolences to his family and friends.

[comrade]

Very sad news. Had the good fortune of meeting Rex once and got to hear one of his classic umpiring stories...

Never backwards in his opinions regarding his beloved Doggies.

Vale Rex.

[LostDoggy]

Rip, sending love to all that new and loved him

[Doc26]

Very sad to hear of Rex's passing. Having connected through Woof, was fortunate to have spent some time with him last season. Passionate Bulldog supporter. Condolences to all who loved him.

[Topdog]

Very sad to hear. I actually didnt even realise he was a test umpire.

Condolences to those who knew the man.

RIP Rex

[LostDoggy]

Terrible news.

Condolences to his family.

[Happy Days]

Horrible news.

Sincere condolences to his family and friends. I consider myself lucky to have read his musings on his time in the middle.

[SonofScray]

That is very sad news. Really enjoyed his contributions to the discussion around our Club. Thank you for sharing the news.

Condolences to his family and those who were fortunate to have known the man.

[ledge]

That's way to young, he seemed a great personality. Will be missed.

[bulldogtragic]

Truly sad, 65 is so young. It's this sort of loss which should put some of our trivialities in real perspective.

As a poster I always loved his ability to convey his thoughts about all issues cricket, especially on this stupid DRS system and no ball checking systems. Old war stories were a fun trip too. If any poster deserved a board or specialists thread named after them I think Rex's contributions hit that threshold.

Such sad news, truly sad.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Sad news, condolences to Rex's family and close friends.

[boydogs]

If any poster deserved a board or specialists thread named after them I think Rex's contributions hit that threshold.

The Merv Hughes Swerve > The EJ Smith Finger

I enjoyed reading his contributions, he had a unique combination of experience and wit without cynicism

[ratsmac]

Sad news indeed. Condolences to his family and friends.

[Daughter of the West]

That's very sad news, 65 is far too young. Condolences to his family and friends.