Kingston: Steve Bucknor has the unprecedented distinction of umpiring in the last four World Cup finals, and says he wouldn’t mind missing next month’s decider in Barbados if West Indies qualified.

“I want to see the West Indies get to the final, that’s my desire,” the lanky Jamaican said on Sunday. “It would help the game in the Caribbean because it’s going to be televised, and the young people would learn so many things from their team doing well.”

West Indies won the first two World Cups in England in 1975 and 1979, and was upset by India in the 1983 final.

Since then, the Caribbean team has fared poorly in cricket’s biggest tournament.

Under International Cricket Council rules, umpires cannot stand in the final if their country qualifies.

Bucknor, 60, stood in the 1992 final between Pakistan and England despite being the most inexperienced umpire in that tournament. He had umpired only three ODIs before that World Cup.

He umpired in the finals of the last three tournaments in 1996, 1999 and 2003.

Bucknor will read the officials’ oath at the opening ceremony at Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica next Sunday.

He said the role of the umpire has changed drastically since his first World Cup.

“All decisions including run outs were made by the umpires, and the batsmen got the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “Now, we refer tight situations to the television umpire and there’s no doubt, so that benefits the game.”

A former Fifa referee, Bucknor has stood in 153 ODIs since 1989, and a world-record of 117 Tests.