Australian umpire Simon Taufel was named the ICC [Images] Umpire of the Year for the third successive time at the 2006 ICC Awards, sponsored by Hyundai, in Mumbai on Friday.

Taufel, who won the previous two awards, beat Pakistan's Aleem Dar and South African Rudi Koertzen for the top umpires' honour.

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He is the only person to win an ICC award in a category more than once, having been voted as Umpire of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

"Umpiring to be recognized is really encouraging. Hopefully it can inspire a lot more people to take up the profession," Taufel said after receiving the award.

"Umpiring is not only about outs and not outs. It involves a lot of sacrifices, like being away from family and friends, dealing with things on the field or off the field, dealing with the players, with the media," he added.

Although only 35, Taufel is generally regarded as one of the very top umpires in the game. His calm, considered self-assurance instills confidence in players and spectators, which is backed up by an extremely high success rate in his decision-making.

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"This award makes the sacrifice a bit worthwhile. It is an important recognition for my family," Taufel said.

He also supported the use of the technology, saying, "There should be a balance."

Taufel also was selected to stand in the Johnnie Walker Super Series between Australia and the ICC World XI in 2005 and stood in his first Test match at Lord's in July 2006 when England [Images] took on Pakistan.

Roll of honour:

Captain of the year: Mahela Jayawardene [Images] (Sri Lanka [Images])
Women's player of the year: Karen Rolton (Australia)
Umpire of the year: Simon Taufel (Australia)
Captain of ICC's Test team of the year: Rahul Dravid [Images] (India)
Emerging player of the year: Ian Bell [Images] (England)
One-Day International player of the year: Michael Hussey (Australia)
Test player of the year: Ricky Ponting [Images] (Australia)
Player of the year: Ricky Ponting