MELBOURNE - Having lived the boyhood dream in 35 Tests and 92 one-day internationals for Australia, Paul Reiffel may have found a way to extend his international cricketing career for decades to come.

Reiffel and Rod Tucker, a veteran of 103 first-class games for New South Wales and Tasmania, will umpire matches next season as part of an initiative to attract former players.

They have been fast-tracked into the system by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and will spend 2002-03 mostly officiating in first-grade district matches.

"The main thing was getting my head around being an umpire which is not something that you grow up really wanting to be, you want to play," Reiffel said today.

"... but once my playing days were finished I always thought that I wanted to stay involved with cricket and the umpiring avenue is good timing for me."

The 36-year-old Reiffel retired midway through last season as Victoria's all-time leading wicket-taker.

He then dipped his toe in the umpiring pool by officiating in a fourth grade match and found he enjoyed it.

"I wasn't going to start now if I didn't see myself doing it in 25 years, I didn't see it as a short term thing," said Reiffel.

"There's a little carrot dangling there to get back to international cricket and to get out there in front of the crowds again and be involved in the atmosphere that I loved as player.

"(But) the main thing is I've got to become a good umpire or I won't go anywhere."

Daryl Harper is the only Australian on the International Cricket Council's elite umpiring list.

Below him the ACB has 26 contracted umpires, from the six men on the national panel down to Reiffel and Tucker on the project panel.

The only other with first-class playing experience is Queenslander Bruce Oxenford, a wrist-spinner who played eight games for Queensland in the early '90s.

England is widely believed to produce the best cricket umpires and it is also the country which attracts the most former players such as Peter Willey and David Shepherd.

India's Srinivas Venkataraghavan is another former Test player who has successfully made the transition.

"I think having first-class experience will help that relationship, I'll certainly know what the players are going through," said Reiffel.

"Hopefully once I get experienced in umpiring I might be just one step ahead of the players because I know what's about to happen."

Reiffel said his time as Victorian captain taught him when to step aside from his teammates and when to be one of the boys.

And when it comes time to report a player for misconduct, Reiffel will have experience in that area as well.

He was fined $200 after disputing the umpire's decision to give Queensland captain Stuart Law the benefit of the doubt when it appeared he had been caught in the slips in the pivotal moment of the 2000-01 Pura Cup final.

"It was a pressure-packed game and things happen," Reiffel said today, before adding diplomatically, "the umpires are always right."

© 2002 AAP

This report does not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Cricket Board.