The International Cricket Council (ICC) has revealed the 20 match officials who will oversee the League Round of the World Cup tournament in India. These officials are assigned for the entire League phase, and the appointments for the semi-finals and final of the competition will be announced at a later time.
The 13th edition of the tournament will see a team of sixteen umpires in action. This lineup includes all twelve umpires from the prestigious Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, along with four members from the ICC Emerging Umpire Panel. The distinguished group comprises Chris Brown, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shaid, Rod Tucker, Alex Wharf, Joel Wilson, and Paul Wilson.
Among these officials, three were part of the umpiring team for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 final at Lord’s – Dharmasena, Erasmus, and Tucker. The only absentee from that quartet is Aleem Dar, who stepped down from the Elite Panel in March this year.
The Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees is also well represented, featuring former international cricketers Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Richie Richardson, and Javagal Srinath.
Srinath will have the honor of officiating the tournament’s opening match between the finalists of the previous event, England and New Zealand, on 5 October in Ahmedabad. Assisting him will be Nitin Menon and Dharmasena as the standing umpires, with Paul Wilson serving as the TV umpire, and Saikat taking on the role of the fourth umpire.
These officials are assigned to oversee the entire League segment of the tournament, while selections for the semi-finals and final will be announced in due course.
Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager – Cricket, said: “To deliver an event of this magnitude you require high-performing individuals at every level. The ICC Elite panel of umpires, referees, and emerging group of umpires involved will bring immense skills, experience, and world-class standards to this World Cup. We are delighted with the group that we have assembled for this tournament”.
“The ICC Cricket Operations department takes great pride and effort in operating a robust and meritocratic selection procedure with the help of our Member Boards. Our competitive pathway system continues to see the development and emergence of high-quality match officials across the game. We are pleased that four members of the ICC Emerging Umpire Panel have earned the opportunity to be part of this showcase event and we wish them, and all the other match officials involved all the very best for the tournament.”
Sean Easey, ICC Manager – Umpires and Referees said: “We are pleased to announce the match officials who will be overseeing the biggest ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup ever. This group is the best from around the world and will be ready to perform a challenging job, with the eyes of the global cricketing community focussed on the event.”
“We are confident that they will do an excellent job and wish them all the best of luck for what promises to be a World Cup to remember.”
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