Dubai, Sep 8 (IANS): Nitin Menon, who is in Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, and Javagal Srinath, a member of Elite Panel of Match Referees, are among 20 match officials for the league stage of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, starting from October 5.
Sixteen umpires will officiate the league stage of the mega tournament, including all 12 of the Emirates Elite Panel of International Cricket Council (ICC) Umpires and four members of the ICC Emerging Umpire Panel.
The 12 Elite Panel of ICC Umpires 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 are Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (Bangladesh), Paul Wilson (Australia), Alex Wharf (England) and Chris Brown (New Zealand).
The experienced list includes three of the four umpires who were appointed for 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 of this year.
The ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees is represented at the event by a quartet of former international cricketers, namely, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Richie Richardson and Javagal Srinath.
Srinath will take charge of the tournament opener between the last event’s finalists, England and New Zealand on 5 October in Ahmedabad. Menon and Dharmasena will be the standing umpires, with Paul Wilson as TV umpire and Saikat taking on fourth umpire duties.
"The officials have been named for the entirety of the League segment, with the selections for the semi-finals and final of the tournament to be named in due course.," it said in a release.
The ICC General Manager of Cricket, Wasim Khan, 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”.
Sean Easey, ICC Manager of Umpires and Referees said: "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."