Elite Panel of ICC Umpires

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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 is sponsored by Emirates Airlines, and when officiating the umpires wear shirts with "Fly Emirates" printed on the front and back.

1 Current members
2 Forthcoming appointments
3 Expectations
4 Benefits of the panel
5 Criticisms of the panel
6 Changes
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Current members

Umpire	Date of Birth	Tests Stood In	ODIs Stood In	Country
Aleem Dar	6 June 1965	37	83	Pakistan
Asad Rauf	12 May 1956	9	42	Pakistan
Mark Benson	6 July 1958	15	42	England
Billy Bowden	11 April 1963	39	111	New Zealand
Steve Bucknor	31 May 1946	117	157	West Indies
Billy Doctrove	3 July 1955	11	64	West Indies
Darrell Hair	30 September 1952	76	131	Australia
Daryl Harper	23 October 1951	63	138	Australia
Rudi Koertzen	26 March 1949	80	169	South Africa
Simon Taufel	21 January 1971	41	110	Australia

Darrell Hair has been banned from officiating in matches involving ICC Full Member nations.

[edit] Forthcoming appointments

2007 Cricket World Cup West Indies, Mar-April 2007

Please see the article 2007 Cricket World Cup Umpires for the details of all umpire and referee appointments for the world cup.

England v West Indies

Umpiring appointments for the forthcoming test and ODI series between England and the West Indies (commencing in May 2007) have yet to be confirmed by the ICC.

[edit] Expectations

The Panel is generally thought to contain the best umpires in the world, and mistakes from the umpires on it are usually rare. The Panel was created after it was decided that neutral umpires would be used in Test matches, rather than umpires from the host nation, which was the system before. The incredible demands on the Panel has meant that some umpires have decided against joining, such as Peter Willey and Neil Mallender of England.

[edit] Benefits of the panel

Due to the small size of the Panel, it is thought that relationships will be closer between fellow umpires and higher consistency and therefore standard of umpiring will increase.

The fact that umpires are independent of the countries involved reduces accusations and suspicion of bias.

[edit] Criticisms of the panel

Umpires can spend up to 9 months per year away from home, which can be bad for morale and for performances.

Umpires from home countries not being allowed to stand in Tests means that umpires can have little to aspire to if they are not on the Panel.

Umpires on the Panel can be unaware of the playing styles and the tactics of the teams they umpire, unlike home umpires. On the other hand they see the leading international players on a regular basis.

[edit] Changes

The Panel was increased from seven to ten members in April 2006, after criticism that the workload of the members was too heavy. Former members of the panel include David Shepherd (England) and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan (India), who retired, and Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka), Dave Orchard (South Africa) and Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe), who were removed due to substandard performance.

On November 5, 2006 Australian umpire Darrel Hair's position as an Elite Umpire was discused during a ICC board meeting was held regarding his actions in a Test match between Pakistan and England in August 2006. Hair is still a member of the ICC's Elite Umpires, but it is very unlikely he will umpire a test match again before his contract runs out in 2008.