ICC Chief Executive Photo © ICC

ICC Chief Executive David Richards today reaffirmed the Council's commitment to reviewing and restructuring the system used for the recruitment and appointment of independent umpires and match referees.

Richards said that the issue was one of the most important priorities faced by international cricket: "Recent events have brought added attention to this area but the ICC had already agreed a process for reviewing both the use of technology and the wider issue of providing the highest standards of umpiring and refereeing.

"We recognise that achieving these standards is a major priority and we are working hard to agree and implement new procedures in the shortest practical timescal," he commented.

Specifically, the ICC Cricket Committee-Playing will meet in May to review the playing conditions applicable to the international game for the next three years. The question of the use of technology will be included in this process.

The meeting will be chaired by Sunil Gavaskar with a Committee including prominent former Test cricketers such as Allan Border, Zaheer Abbas, Kris Srikkanth, Duleep Mendis and Andy Pycroft.

February's ICC Executive Board meeting in Melbourne agreed to the principle of a major review of the regulation of the game on the field, including the umpires and referees system. At present independent Test match umpires are selected from a 20-strong panel nominated by full member countries (with the current exception of Bangladesh).

The proposal under development would work towards an elite panel of eight full-time contracted umpires, who would be appointed to stand in most Tests. Appointment to this group would be purely on merit, reflecting the seniority and status of individuals based on, among other things, marks awarded by Test captains.

Another group of between 25 to 30 emerging umpires would be groomed to support, and in time join, the elite panel. A comprehensive accreditation process would accompany this involving extensive training, physical screening, including sight and hearing checks, and international exchange programmes. The aim is to offer the best umpires a viable and professional career path in the international game.

A similar approach is also planned for the ICC match referees panel. A full-time group of up to eight referees will be contracted to the ICC and assigned to international series. A supplementary panel will be allocated to cover other ICC approved international tournaments. Formal criteria will be introduced to encourage the recruitment of a new generation of referees to the panels.

A target date of April 2002 has been set for the introduction of both new systems.

Media enquiries relating to this statement should be addressed to:
Mark Harrison
ICC Communications Manager
Tel: 00 44 (0) 20 7266 7913/1818
Email: mark.harrison@icc.cricket.org

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