Respected umpire had the law on his side
The cricket world is mourning respected umpire Dave Quested, who juggled standing in test matches with cracking criminal cases in his day job as a Christchurch detective.
Quested – who officiated in five men’s test matches and 31 one day internationals – died in Christchurch this week after a short illness.
One of his most memorable matches was umpiring the 2000 Women’s Cricket World Cup final at Lincoln’s Bert Sutcliffe Oval, where New Zealand beat Australia in a thrilling finish.
“He remembered going out with the [White Ferns] team after the match to the entertainment strip in Christchurch, he always talked about having a great night after that win,’’ said Quested’s son, Richard.
Another Quested claim to fame was his role in the first TV umpire referral in New Zealand on his ODI debut in 1992.
Dave Quested served in the New Zealand Police for 32 years, mainly in the Criminal Investigation Branch in Christchurch before retiring as a detective sergeant in 2001. He helped solve some big cases, including the 1986 Dennis Drinkwater truck bombing murder in Hornby.
Another case required Quested and Detective Inspector Dave Haslett to visit Britain to make some inquiries there – but even then there was a cricketing connection.
“He got to go to the [1993] Women’s World Cup final at Lord’s when he was over there when [police colleague] Sarah Illingworth was captain of the New Zealand team,’’ Richard Quested, himself a police senior sergeant in Timaru, said.
Quested, Haslett and another colleague, John Rae, received police bronze awards for their work on a manslaughter case against Christchurch surgeon Keith Ramstead, which resulted in a conviction that was later quashed by the Privy Council over an irregularity at the High Court trial.
Umpiring was one of the ways his father relaxed from the pressures of police work, Richard Quested said. “It was his passion.”
Born in Christchurch, Quested attended Linwood High School. He was a “handy fast bowler and left-handed batsman’’ for Woolston WMC in the Christchurch Suburban Competition and played for the New Zealand Police and New Zealand Combined Services team.
He took to umpiring because he “wanted to give back to the sport, he loved the game’’, Richard said.
“Whenever I asked ‘why do you do it?’, he said: ‘I’ve got the best seat in the house. He always reckoned there was nothing better than ‘standing in a test match when Shane Warne is bowling from your end’.”
Quested joined the New Zealand firstclass umpires panel around 1990 and umpired 116 matches at that level over 20 years, placing him fifth on the all-time domestic umpires list.
His big international break came three days after Christmas in 1992 when he joined fellow Christchurch umpire, friend and mentor Brian Aldridge to officiate the Black Caps v Pakistan ODI in Napier.
It was a memorable match on several scores.
“Dad was the first umpire to refer a decision to the third umpire for a TV replay,’’
Richard Quested said.
The McLean Park match also featured the first ban delivered under the International Cricket Conference’s new code of conduct when fast bowler Aaqib Javed, upset by a no-ball which cost Pakistan a wicket, showed dissent to Aldridge and was banned for the next ODI.
Quested’s last test was, fittingly, at his home ground, Lancaster Park, where he saw New Zealand’s Mathew Sinclair score 204 not out and an unbeaten 50 in a draw with Pakistan in 2002.
Quested continued to stand in domestic matches until 2010 when New Zealand Cricket called “over and time’’ on the then- 64-year-old to make way for younger umpires.
Typically, Quested took that decision in his stride. ‘‘It was inevitable, I guess. It can’t last forever. I was still coping, and it certainly wasn’t [due to] a lack of form or making poor decisions. I was still up with the rest of the bunch,’’ he said in 2010.
His final police role was heading the training programme for new detectives before retiring at 55. He then worked for Child, Youth and Family in a youth justice role in the winters while umpiring on the domestic circuit in his summers and then serving as a domestic match referee.
“He loved it,” Richard said. “He was always somebody who liked to stay in the background and not draw attention to himself.”
Quested served on the New Zealand Cricket Umpires Association management committee and was president and later patron of the Canterbury Regional Umpires and Scorers Association.
Quested kept his hand in umpiring matches at the Willows Cricket Club at Loburn, North Canterbury, up until last year and also officiated in occasional games at St Bede’s College. “He reckoned by then he couldn’t hear the nicks, he had hearing aids,’’ Richard Quested said.
Quested’s grandsons Ben and Carter Trillo played at St Bede’s and he enjoyed watching their progress and was proud that Ben made his Canterbury A debut last season.
Dave Quested is survived by wife Jan, son Richard, daughters Nicola Trillo and Emily Nind and eight of nine grandchildren.