THERE was an undoubted air of tension between Australia and South Africa during this winter’s VB Series of one-day internationals, but someone clearly forgot to tell umpire Mark Benson.

The ex-Kent and England batsman turned ICC Emirates umpire appeared completely unflappable throughout the VB Series and seemingly did his chances of winning appointment to the elite panel of Test umpires the world of good.

Finger and knee injuries forced Benson’s retirement from the first-class game in 1997 after nearly 300 games as the county’s rock-like and utterly phlegmatic opening bat.

He joined the ECB’s domestic umpires’ panel three seasons later and, since making his ODI debut in June 2004, appears to have taken to officiating on the international stage with the same economy of effort and movement.

The ex-Kent skipper has already stood in six Tests and 24 one day internationals, but says he remains relaxed about his umpiring career.

He said: "All my ambition in cricket was aimed toward playing well for Kent and trying to make the England side, so although I enjoy umpiring I’m not tremendously ambitious. As long as I feel I’ve done a good job then I’m satisfied.

"I was really pleased with how it went in Australia, though all in all it was a strange tour. I had a week off to acclimatise before my first match and then the matches came in two or three-game bursts with five days or so off between the next set of games.

"The stint in Melbourne worked really well in my favour because my days off coincided with the Australian Open Tennis. My hotel was just 200 yards from the Olympic and Melbourne Park Centres, so when I didn’t have cricket I went to watch the tennis.

"I was in my element, I saw Roger Federer on the Rod Laver Centre Court but enjoyed wandering around the outside courts watching the doubles as much as anything."

Never one to court publicity as a player, Benson has the same no-frills approach to his umpiring. His decisions are given quickly and confidently while his signals remain low key in the extreme.

He added: "I suppose all the pressure comes with umpiring when you think you’ve made a wrong decision. Only then do you begin to think that 20 million people around the world might have seen and picked up on it.

"The Australian media had been critical of some of the officiating prior to this last series there, but I felt it went well and didn’t feel I’d made any glaring errors.

"We did take some stick off their TV commentators in the last game between Australia and Sri Lanka when they blamed the umpires for not referring a low 'catch' at cover point-come gully off Ricky Ponting.

"Ponting hadn’t walked and the other umpire Peter Parker wasn’t sure it had carried. They all came walking over to me at square-leg, but although I’d got an unrestricted view I was 60 yards away and there was no way I could give it out.

"With that element of doubt we couldn’t give it out and because we’d both had a clear view of the incident the ICC regulations did not allow us to refer the decision to the third umpire."

In the last six months, Benson has flown twice to officiate in India and Australia, spent three weeks in Zimbabwe and over a month in New Zealand, so little wonder that time at home with his family in Walmer, near Deal, is precious.

That 'quality time’ at home may become even rarer should he win promotion to the Emirates elite Test panel but, true to form, Benson will cross that bridge when he has to.