Elite Panel of ICC Umpires

Former panel member Steve Bucknor during the 2006 Ashes Test at Adelaide

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 decided to reform the way that international cricket was umpired. The main change was that both umpires in Test match and one of the umpires in 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.

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 were removed in 2011.

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

Current members

The Elite Panel as of the 28 May 2011 consists of:

Umpire	Date of Birth	Age as of 29 February 2012	Year Appointed	Tests	ODIs	T20Is	Country
Billy Bowden	11 April 1963	&1000000000000004800000048 years, &10000000000000324000000324 days	2003	67	155	19	New Zealand
Simon Taufel	21 January 1971	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003900000039 days	2003	67	167	22	Australia
Aleem Dar	6 June 1968	&1000000000000004300000043 years, &10000000000000268000000268 days	2004	64	146	18	Pakistan
Billy Doctrove	3 July 1955	&1000000000000005600000056 years, &10000000000000241000000241 days	2006	32	106	17	West Indies (Dominica)
Asad Rauf	12 May 1956	&1000000000000005500000055 years, &10000000000000293000000293 days	2006	34	88	17	Pakistan
Steve Davis	9 April 1952	&1000000000000005900000059 years, &10000000000000326000000326 days	2008	31	104	14	Australia
Ian Gould	19 August 1957	&1000000000000005400000054 years, &10000000000000194000000194 days	2009	18	56	15	England
Tony Hill	26 June 1951	&1000000000000006000000060 years, &10000000000000248000000248 days	2009	23	84	16	New Zealand
Marais Erasmus	27 February 1964	&1000000000000004800000048 years, &100000000000000020000002 days	2010	5	32	12	South Africa
Rod Tucker	28 August 1964	&1000000000000004700000047 years, &10000000000000185000000185 days	2010	8	24	8	Australia
Kumar Dharmasena	24 April 1971	&1000000000000004000000040 years, &10000000000000311000000311 days	2011	2	25	3	Sri Lanka
Richard Kettleborough	15 March 1973	&1000000000000003800000038 years, &10000000000000351000000351 days	2011	2	16	2	England

Former members

The first changes to the panel came in 2004 when Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan (known as Venkat) retired, and Asoka de Silva, Dave Orchard and Russell Tiffin did not have their contracts renewed. David Shepherd retired in 2005 following 22 years as an international umpire. Darrell Hair, 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 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.

Steve Bucknor retired in 2009, having stood in a record 128 Tests since March 1989. Rudi Koertzen retired in 2010, while Mark Benson, 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.

• Original panel member

Umpire	Date of Birth	Joined Panel	Left Panel	Tests	ODIs	T20Is	Country
Steve Bucknor	31 May 1946	2002	2009	128	121		West Indies (Jamaica)
Asoka de Silva^	28 March 1956	2002	2011	45	100	9	Sri Lanka
Daryl Harper	23 October 1951	2002	2011	94	174	10	Australia
Rudi Koertzen	26 March 1949	2002	2010	108	206	14	South Africa
Dave Orchard	24 June 1948	2002	2004	44	107		South Africa
David Shepherd	27 December 1940	2002	2005	92	172		England
Russell Tiffin	4 June 1959	2002	2004	44	111		Zimbabwe
Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan	21 April 1945	2002	2004	73	52		India
Darell Hair	30 September 1952	2003	2008	78	135		Australia
Mark Benson	6 July 1958	2006	2010	27	72	19	England

^de Silva was absent from the panel between 2004 and 2008.

Records

Most Test matches as an umpire as of 28 May 2011:

Umpire	Period	Matches
Steve Bucknor	1989-2009	128
Rudi Koertzen	1992-2010	108
Daryl Harper	1998-2011	94
David Shepherd	1985-2005	92
Darrell Hair	1992-2008	78

Most ODI matches as an umpire as of 28 May 2011:

Umpire	Period	Matches
Rudi Koertzen	1992-2010	209
Steve Bucknor	1989-2009	181
Daryl Harper	1994-2011	174
David Shepherd	1983-2005	172
Simon Taufel	1999-present	167

Most T20I matches as an umpire as of 28 May 2011:

Umpire	Period	Matches
Simon Taufel	2007-present	22
Mark Benson	2007-2009	19
Billy Bowden	2005-present	19
Aleem Dar	2009-present	18
Billy Doctrove	2007-present	17
Asad Rauf	2007-present	17

See also

• Panel of ICC Referees
• ICC International umpire panel
• List of Test umpires
• ICC Associates and Affiliates Umpire Panel

External links

• ICC match officials