Steve Randell

Stephen Grant Randell (born September 16, 1956) is a former Australian Test cricket match umpire, the first to come from Tasmania. He was convicted in 1999 of 15 counts of sexual assault against nine schoolgirls of ages 10-12 while teaching at a Catholic primary school between 1981 and 1982.

Randell was born in Hobart, Tasmania.

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’s 33 matches). His first match was between Australia and the West Indies at Melbourne 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 to deny the West Indies a 12th consecutive Test victory. Randell’s partner was Peter McConnell.

In 1994, the International Cricket Council 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 at Adelaide on 30 January to 3 February 1998, finishing in a draw, with captain Mark Taylor dominating the first innings with 169 and Mark Waugh scoring a century in the second innings. Randell’s colleague was the New Zealander, Doug Cowie.

Randell’s last Test match was between Zimbabwe and Pakistan at Harare on 21-25 March 1998. Randell umpired 88 One Day International (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.

His cricket and professional careers ended when he was convicted in August 1999 of 15 separate counts of sexual assault against nine schoolgirls of ages 10–12 while teaching at a Catholic primary school between 1981 and 1982. He was sentenced to four years jail with a two-year minimum, and was released on parole in May 2002.