Full list of umpires who will officiate in ICC World Cup 2023 matches
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the 16 umpires that will officiate the 45 league-stage matches to be played during the ODI World Cup in the first week of September.
England will take on New Zealand to kick off the mega-event in a mouth-watering repeat of the 2019 final in Ahmedabad on October 5. The umpires for the semi-final and final will be announced during the tournament.
While 12 of the 16 are from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, the remaining four will be from the ICC Emerging Umpire Panel. Three of the four who officiated the 2019 World Cup final, namely Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, and Rodney Tucker, will be on duty in the upcoming edition.
Aleem Dar, who stepped down from the Elite panel earlier this year, is missing in the 2023 World Cup.
Sean Easey, ICC Senior Manager – Umpires and Referees, expressed confidence in the umpires doing a commendable job during the event, saying:
"We are pleased to announce the match officials who will be officiating at the biggest ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup ever. 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."
Apart from the complete list of umpires for the showpiece event, the ICC also announced the officials for the tournament opener.
Nitin Menon and Kumar Dharmasena will be the on-field umpires, with Paul Wilson handling the TV umpire duties and Sharfuddoula Ibne Shaid as the fourth umpire.
While Menon will be officiating his first ICC Men's World Cup game, Dharmasena was the first to play and umpire in a World Cup final, achieving the feat in 1996 as a player and in 2015 as an umpire.
Meanwhile, Richard Illingworth and Marais Erasmus will officiate the much anticipated India-Pakistan clash in Ahmedabad on October 14. Richard Kettleborough will serve as the TV umpire while Andrew Pycroft is set to serve as the match referee for the high-octane contest.
With the umpires, the ICC also announced four match referees, all former international cricketers, making it 20 officials in charge of the World Cup.
England has the most representatives among the umpires with four members, followed by Australia with three, South Africa and New Zealand with two, and India with one (Nitin Menon).
Elite Panel of ICC Umpires for World Cup 2023
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).
Emerging Panel of ICC Umpires for World Cup 2023
Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (Bangladesh), Paul Wilson (Australia), Alex Wharf (England) and Chris Brown (New Zealand).
Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees for World Cup 2023
Jeff Crowe (New Zealand), Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe), Richie Richardson (West Indies) and Javagal Srinath (India).