The Elite Panel of ICC Umpires is a panel of

cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French ''nompere'' meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricke ...

s appointed by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

to officiate in

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

and

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...

s around the world. The panel was first established in April 2002 when the ICC decided to reform the way that international cricket was umpired. The main change was that both umpires in a Test match and one of the umpires in a One Day International are now independent of the competing nations, whereas before 2002 just one of the umpires in a Test was independent and in ODIs both umpires were from the home nation. The majority of these ICC appointments are fulfilled by the members of the Elite Panel, who are generally thought to be the best umpires in the world. As such the ICC hopes to ensure that umpiring standards are as high as possible. Members of the panel stand in around 10 Tests and 15 ODIs each year.About ICC – Match Officials
The list of umpires in the panel is revised every year by the ICC Umpires Selection Panel.

History

The panel was formed in 2002 with eight members. Peter Willey was invited to be on the panel, but declined the opportunity because it would have required him to spend too much time away from his family. The last members of the original panel retired in 2011. The original eight panel members were:

Steve Bucknor Stephen Anthony Bucknor, OJ (born 31 May 1946) is a Jamaican former international cricket umpire. Bucknor umpired in a record 128 Test matches between 1989 and 2009, and also umpired in 181 One Day Internationals during this period, includi ...

, Daryl Harper, Ashoka de Silva, Srinivas Venkataraghavan,

Rudi Koertzen Rudolf Eric Koertzen (; 26 March 1949 – 9 August 2022) was a South African international cricket umpire. A cricket enthusiast since his youth, he played league cricket while working as a clerk for South African Railways. He began umpiring in ...

Dave Orchard David Lynton Orchard (born 24 June 1948) is South African former first-class cricketer, and former international umpire who stood in 44 Test matches and 107 One-Day Internationals. Biography Orchard was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. ...

, David Shepherd and Russell Tiffin. Members of the International Panel of ICC Umpires stand in ODIs in their home countries, and may be appointed by the ICC to Tests and ODIs as an independent official at busy times in the cricket calendar to supplement the Elite Panel. The best performing umpires may earn promotion to the Elite Panel.

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country * Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir ** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf ** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates * The E ...

sponsors the panel, and the umpires are required to wear shirts and coats which have 'Fly Emirates' printed on them whenever they are officiating. In July 2019,

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arth ...

and Joel Wilson were added to the Elite panel following the retirement of

Ian Gould Ian James Gould (born 19 August 1957) is an English former first-class cricketer and a former member of the ICC Elite Panel of cricket umpires. He previously also served as the chairman of English football club Burnham FC. In April 2019, Gou ...

and exclusion of Sundaram Ravi after the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...

. , Australia and England have jointly provided the most members of the panel with seven. South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies and India have provided three each; Pakistan and Sri Lanka have provided two each; and Zimbabwe have provided just one member.

Current members

cricket season the Elite Panel consists of:

Former members

The first departures from the panel came in 2004 when Srinivas Venkataraghavan (known as Venkat) retired, and Asoka de Silva,

and Russell Tiffin did not have their contracts renewed. David Shepherd retired in 2005 following 22 years as an international umpire.

Darrell Hair Darrell Bruce Hair (born 30 September 1952) is an Australian former Test match cricket umpire, from New South Wales. He stood on the International panel of umpires from 2002 to 2003, before he, along with fellow Australian Simon Taufel, and N ...

, who joined the panel in 2003, was banned from officiating in matches involving full ICC members following the

Ball tampering controversy in August 2006 In 2006, during the fourth day of the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval, umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove ruled that the Pakistani team had been involved in ball tampering. The Pakistani players refused to take th ...

. In March 2008, following a spell officiating associate members, Hair was once again permitted to umpire full members, but in August he handed in his resignation after he was only allowed to officiate in two tests.

retired in 2009, having stood in a then record 128 Tests since March 1989.

retired in 2010, while

Mark Benson Mark Richard Benson (born 6 July 1958) is an English former cricketer and umpire. Benson played for England in one Test match and one One Day International in 1986. He later took up umpiring and spent time on the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires. ...

, who had joined the panel in 2006, stood down to return to domestic cricket. Asoka de Silva, who rejoined the panel in 2008, was stood down again in 2011 along with Daryl Harper, Simon Taufel and

Billy Doctrove Billy Raymond Doctrove (born 3 July 1955) is a Dominica former international football referee, but is best known as an international cricket umpire. Career as a FIFA referee During his time as a referee Doctrove took charge of several interna ...

retired in 2012 and

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

retired in 2015. Sundaram Ravi was dropped from the panel after

retired from the panel after the 2019 World Cup. Bruce Oxenford retired from the panel in 2021. ''Former elite panel members can still umpire in ODIs and international T20s. Statistics correct as of 31 January 2021.'' * Original panel member ^de Silva was absent from the panel between 2004 and 2008.

Records

Test matches

Most Test matches as an umpire:

ODI matches

Most ODI matches as an umpire:

T20I matches

Most T20I matches as an umpire:

References

External links

ICC match officials
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elite Panel of Icc Umpires Cricket umpiring International Cricket Council