Alexander George Wharf (born 4 June 1975) is an English cricket umpire and former international cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast-medium bowler, who ended his career with the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

side

Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club () is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Gla ...

. Currently, he is a member of the

ICC Elite umpire panel The Elite Panel of ICC Umpires is a panel of cricket umpires appointed by the International Cricket Council to officiate in Test matches and One Day Internationals around the world. The panel was first established in April 2002 when the ICC decid ...

Domestic career

Wharf commenced his first-class cricketing career with

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in 1994, and played seven such matches for the county until 1997. He later joined

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, before moving to Glamorgan in 2000. Wharf announced his retirement from cricket during the

2009 County Championship The 2009 County Championship season, known as the LV County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the 110th County Championship season. It was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team played all the others in ...

, after failing to recover from a long-term injury. In 2010, Wharf played in the South Wales Premier Cricket League for Sully Centurians.

International career

He never played

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

, but made his

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 2004. Altogether he won 13 ODI caps.

Umpiring career

In 2011, he was added to the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

list of reserve umpires, alongside the late Russell Evans and

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

. Along with Rob Bailey, he was one of the two onfield umpires for the

Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge The Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket match that took place in England on 31 May 2018. The West Indies cricket team played against a World XI team, to raise funds for stadiums damaged by Hurricane Irma a ...

match played at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

on 31 May 2018. The next month, he stood in his first

(ODI) match, between England and Australia, at

Sophia Gardens Sophia Gardens ( ; ) is a public park in Riverside, Cardiff, Wales, on the west bank of the River Taff. International test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestig ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

on 16 June 2018. In October 2019, he was appointed as one of the twelve umpires to officiate matches in the

2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine the teams that would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finis ...

tournament in the United Arab Emirates. In February 2020, the ICC named him as one of the umpires to officiate in matches during the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup final, final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Internati ...

in Australia. In June 2021, Wharf was named as the fourth official for the

2021 ICC World Test Championship Final The final of the 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship, the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, was played from 18 to 23 June 2021 at the Rose Bowl (cricket ground), Rose Bowl, Southampton, England, between India national cricket team, India ...

. In August 2021, in the third match between England and India, Wharf stood in his first Test match as an umpire. In February 2022, he was named as one of the on-field umpires for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand. In September 2023, he was named as one of the sixteen match officials for

2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...

. In March 2025, he was promoted to

ICC Elite Umpire Panel The Elite Panel of ICC Umpires is a panel of cricket umpires appointed by the International Cricket Council to officiate in Test matches and One Day Internationals around the world. The panel was first established in April 2002 when the ICC decid ...

References

External links

1975 births Living people English cricketers England One Day International cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Cricketers from Bradford English cricket umpires English Test cricket umpires English One Day International cricket umpires English Twenty20 International cricket umpires English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-cricket-bio-stub

Domestic career

International career

Umpiring career

See also

References

External links