FEW Dorset cricketers can claim to have played at the home of Cricket but tomorrow (August 22), Bournemouth-based umpire Steve Bishopp will take the famous walk down the Long Room to officiate at Lord's.

The 50-year-old will take charge of the NPower Village Cricket Final between Sully Centurions from Glamorgan and Exhall and Wixford of Warwickshire.

It is the third time Bishopp has been elected to stand at Lord's, having already officiated at the 1999 National Club Championship Final.

He was also nominated reserve umpire for the Village Cricket showpiece last year.

And, having only just missed out on making it onto the First-Class List for the 2004 summer, the widely-respected official will now stand at a series of warm-up games for the ICC Champions Trophy in September, involving World champions Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Bishopp, from Iford, began umpiring in the Dorset Cricket League in 1990.

After applying to make the Minor Counties List in 1996, he graduated within months, despite the wait usually taking three years.

He said: "I was being encouraged to apply and it so happened that the year I did, they had a number of withdrawals so it was a lucky break really.

"This year I applied for the First-Class List but no-one was retiring so I will have to wait on that one."

His Minor Counties debut came at Berkshire and since then, Bishopp, who works as a programmer for Peter Day Precision, has built up an impressive CV.

He has taken charge of NatWest/Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy first and second round games, Second XI Championship matches and watched on as future England stars Marcus Trescothick, Chris Read and Richard Dawson cut their teeth in representative and Minor Counties cricket.

But, insists the Bournemouth umpire, there is nowhere quite like the home of cricket.

He said: "As a player, you dream of playing at Lord's and it really is fantastic to walk out at cricket's spiritual home. It really has a magic about it.

"As an umpire you get the best seat in the house, at the non-striker's end, and the first thing that really hits you is how noticeable the slope is.

"I've also had the chance to watch from the new media centre there too which is a incredible view."

As a man who has represented Wayfarers since 1965, Bishopp has learnt his art from both a player's and an official's perspective and he is determined to become the kind of umpire players admire and respect.

He added: "Communication is so important in this job.

"In my playing days, I used to get annoyed with umpires who would not talk and give you a reason for a decision.

"You need that interaction between the two parties and the players always appreciate it if you tell them why you turned down an appeal, for example."