Match officials for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 named

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has named 20 match officials for the league stage of the Cricket World Cup. The officials for the semi-finals and final will be named in due course of the tournament.

The list comprises 16 umpires and four match referees. 

Of these, 12 belong to the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires. 

They are Christopher Gaffaney (New Zealand), Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka), Marais Erasmus (South Africa), Michael Gough (England), Nitin Menon (India), Paul Reiffel (Australia), Richard Illingworth (England), Richard Kettleborough (England), Rodney Tucker (Australia), Joel Wilson (West Indies), Ahsan Raza (Pakistan), and Adrian Holdstock (South Africa).

The remaining four belong to the ICC Emerging Umpire Panel. They include Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (Bangladesh), Paul Wilson (Australia), Alex Wharf (England) and Chris Brown (New Zealand).

This experienced group features three umpires who officiated in the Cricket World Cup 2019 final. This includes Dharmasena, Erasmus and Tucker.

Aleem Dar will be the only umpire from that game to miss this World Cup. He stepped down from the Elite Panel in March of this year.

On the other hand, the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees for the event are Jeff Crowe (New Zealand), Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe), Richie Richardson (West Indies) and Javagal Srinath (India). All four are former international players. 

Officials for the tournament opener between England and New Zealand on 5 October, were named. Menon and Dharmasena will be the on-field umpires. Paul Wilson will be the TV umpire, with Sharfuddoula will be the fourth umpire. Pycroft will be the match referee.

Sean Easey, ICC Senior Manager – Umpires and Referees believes that this group would do an excellent job during the global event.

“We are pleased to announce the match officials who will be officiating at the biggest ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup ever,” Easey said. “This group is the very best from around the world and we believe that they are ready to perform what will be a challenging job with the eyes of the global cricketing community focussed on every decision.

“We are confident that they will do an excellent job and wish them all the best of luck for what will surely be a World Cup to remember.”

Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager – Cricket, believed that they would bring skill, experience and world class standards to this World Cup.

“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.”

He was also pleased at the presence of ICC Emerging Panel members in the event. 

“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.”

Umpires: 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, Chris Brown, and Paul Wilson.

Match Referees: Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Richie Richardson and Javagal Srinath