The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced 20 match officials for the league round of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
The sixteen umpires in the list also includes Pakistan’s Ahsan Raza, who is a member of the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires.
The other umpires include Chris Brown, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Paul Reiffel, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shaid, Rod Tucker, Alex Wharf, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
The experienced list includes three of the four umpires who officiated the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 final at Lord’s - Dharmasena, Erasmus and Tucker – with only Aleem Dar missing, who stepped down from the Elite Panel in March this year.
The ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees includes former international cricketers, namely, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Richie Richardson and Javagal Srinath.
The officials for the semi-finals and final of the tournament will be named in due course.
“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,” Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager – Cricket, said.
“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,” he added.
It must be noted that 10 teams will fight for the elusive title across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final.
The day matches which will start at 10:00am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30pm (PST).
The Cricket World Cup will be played in the round-robin format with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches.
The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, which will be held in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.