Doctrove roots for Liverpool to win UEFA Champions League

Chittagong, May 22 (UNI) Liverpool will have one of their biggest fans in ICC Elite Panel Umpire Billy Doctrove, looking with bleary eyed at the television set when they lock horns with AC Milan for the UEFA Champions League Trophy in Athens tomorrow.

Doctrove who is no stranger to controversy, will be hoping for a controversy free sweeping win for Liverpool.

Interestingly, the West Indian's association with the club has earned him the sobriquet ''Toshack'' after Liverpool's legend John Toshack, who helped the club win UEFA Cup in 1973 and 1976 and scored 99 times for the club during his stay.

Talking to UNI, Doctrove said, ''I am a die hard Liverpool Football Club fan. I'm looking forward to Liverpool winning the Champions League final (against AC Milan in Athens). Man, it will be a great achievement for my favourite club, and surely, I'm going to watch the match on Wednesday.

''I was invited by Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry last year to watch the Premiership match against West Ham United in Anfield where I had met some of my heroes like Toshak and Ian Rush. It was one of my happiest days,'' he emotionally recollected.

Doctrove who was a full-time international referee before deciding to become a cricket umpire, had even officiated the World Cup football qualifier between Guyana and Granada in 1996 and is still the president of the Dominican Football Referees Association.

But when it comes to cricket, he seems to have a habit of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

During India's tour of the West Indies last year, when the visitors appealed for a run-out in the second ODI and turned to the square-leg umpire, Doctrove was found missing. He was seen coming back from deep fine-leg boundary after attending to some advertising boards. After a discussion with his colleague Asad Rauf, a dead ball was called.

Then in the opening Test of the same series, Simon Taufel and Rauf referred Daren Ganga's catch of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to him sitting in the TV umpire's box. Doctrove failed to pass a verdict and, instead, lobbed the ball back into the court of his on-field colleagues. The chaos ended only when Rahul Dravid declared the Indian innings.

But last summer's Oval Test fiasco has certainly surpassed everything when Pakistan were charged with ball tampering and forfieted the match -- the first of its kind in Test history.

The International Cricket Council subsequently lost confidence in Darell Hair and removed the Australian from the Elite Panel of Umpires, but Doctrove survived the controversy.

''All this is part of a learning curve,'' said the 51-year-old, in a relaxed tone.

But away from cricket and controversies he is still a football man who looks to improve the standard of football in the Caribbeans.

However, Doctrove hopes that Liverpool can repeat their two years back triumph when they defeated A C Milan to become champions in the mother of all comebacks.

UNI