WHEN Bathurst’s Tony Wilds stands behind the stumps each summer as an umpire in the Sydney Grade Cricket competition, he does it purely because he has a passion for the sport.
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So when he picked up two awards in as many days for his umpiring on the weekend, Wilds accepted them in his typically humble fashion.
On Friday night he was announced as the inaugural winner of the award for refereeing and umpiring distinction at the annual Bathurst Sports Awards.
The following evening, Wilds was in Sydney where he was named first grade umpire of the year (panel one) on Steve Waugh Medal night.
“The Friday night was probably the biggest shock; I won the new category for referees. Saturday, I guess that was a shock too, but I am not out to win awards, that is not why I do it,” Wilds said.
“You take these sort of things when they come along, but I’d trade in an award for a grand final any day of the year.
“I do it because I love it, it is something I look forward to, and I try to do it well.”
Standing in a grand final is something Wilds did earlier this month when overseeing the Sydney second grade decider between Sydney University and Northern Districts.
That capped off what has been a big season for the Bathurst official.
He stood in two matches in the women’s Ashes series, a Futures League game between NSW and Tasmania and controlled three under 19s one day internationals in Darwin as Australia, India and New Zealand contested a tri-series.
Wilds also umpired at the under 19s nationals in Hobart and a semi-final of the national Twenty20 competition between Queensland and Victoria.
It shows just how far he has come since first venturing to Sydney as an official in season 2009-10.
The Twenty20 match was one of Wilds’ highlights as he made his television debut and got to stand with a member of the national panel in Queensland’s Damien Mealey.
“That was a great opportunity. To stand with a guy who is on the national panel normally doesn’t happen to us,” Wilds said.
“I was probably a bit busy to take a lot of notice of Damien, but it really was different. When you come out for the start of the game you just stand there and you don’t start until the television tells you to start.”
The Steve Waugh Medal night was made even more special for Wilds as fellow Bathurst product Trent Copeland acted as master of ceremonies. Earlier in the evening, Perthville’s Brian Booth presented him with a certificate, while his first grade umpire of the year award was handed to him by Rod Tucker, a member of the ICC elite umpiring panel.
While more appointments in big games could follow, Wilds is just happy to continue to learn and be part of a sport he enjoys.
“I am always learning. I just passed the 100 first grade game mark, I have done 103 games now, but you never, ever, stop learning,” he said.
“You can always do something better. Sometimes I will try something that doesn’t work and sometimes I will do something that does.
“You just have to enjoy and do your best and don’t worry about what will come. You can go mad worrying about that.”