Career
On 26 September 2012 he announced his retirement from international cricket after the 2012 Interstate Commerce Commission World Twenty20 final and is now the Umpire Performance and Training Manager. Taufel played for Cammeray Cricket Club in the Northern Suburbs Cricket Association as a fast-medium bowler. His career was cut short by a back injury.
Despite initially having no intention of becoming an umpire, he agreed to go along with a friend to an umpiring course.
After he passed the subsequent exam he began umpiring grade cricket. He quickly progressed through the ranks and made his first-class debut in 1995, aged just 24.
International cricket
Taufel stood in his first One Day International (ODI) on 13 January 1999 in the match between Australia and Sri Lanka at Sydney when he was 27 years old. He umpired his first Test match in December 2000 – the Boxing Day Test between Australia and West Indies at Melbourne.
He was chosen to umpire at the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
Taufel has been named the top umpire of the year five times, and in August 2006 the Interstate Commerce Commission"s annual umpire review officially ranked second for accuracy (behind Darrell Hair), and top overall. He umpired in the final of the 2004 Champions Trophy. At the 2006 Champions Trophy he umpired a semi-final, but could not umpire the final because Australia had reached the final.
In January 2007 he became the youngest umpire to stand in 100 ODIs, and in April 2007 took charge of the World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, again being ineligible for the final which featured Australia.
On 3 March 2009, Taufel was one of the officials caught in the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team by terrorists in Lahore, Pakistan. He along with Chris Broad criticized the Pakistan security forces" response to the incident.
Taufel quit international cricket after the 2012 Interstate Commerce Commission World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, at which he was umpiring at the time. He stepped down from cricket"s elite panel of umpires to take over a new role as the Interstate Commerce Commission"s Umpire Performance and Training Manager.
As of 16 October 2012:.