For the second time in his career, Darren Close is rising up the umpiring ranks.
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The Ulverstone cricket umpire was last week named on the Cricket Australia National Umpire Panel alongside Sam Nogajski and Mike Graham-Smith.
Close's skills out in the middle first came to prominence as a teenager when at just 18 he stood in a Sheffield Shield match between Tasmania and Victoria during the 1986-1987 season - the first of 20 first-class games for him in a five-year span.
After a 20-year stint in the United Kingdon, he returned home and began umpiring again, first at local level and then quickly moving to Cricket Tasmania Premier League level.
Last season saw Close make his return to the first-class scene when he umpired in the Sheffield Shield match between Tasmania and Queensland, and there is set to be plenty more four-day cricket on his calendar for the upcoming season after he secured a full-time position in the 10-man group.
"I got the phone call to say I had been offered a contract and it came as a bit of surprise, albeit a nice surprise," Close, now 52, said.
"I missed out last season and my aim was to work towards it - that's what you aspire to in the umpiring ranks."
