Match officials for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup announced

Joel Wilson is lone West Indian on 16-man umpires panel
DUBAI, (CMC) – Trinidadian Joel Wilson will be the only West Indian member of
the panel of 16 umpires and four match referees that will oversee matches in the
ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup from October 17 to November 14 in the United
Arab Emirates and Oman.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s world governing body,
announced yesterday the match officials’ appointments for the qualifying round of
matches and the group stage of the global showpiece.
“We are delighted to be able to call on some of the world’s top officials for the
T20 World Cup with a group of 16 umpires and four match referees,” ICC senior
manager for umpires and referees Adrian Griffith said.
The ICC said the appointment of the umpires and referees meant that for the first
time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be neutral
umpires for all matches.
“Our aim is always to appoint the best possible officials, and we have also been
able to appoint neutral umpires and referees in all matches,” Griffith, a former
Barbados and West Indies opener, said. “We wish them all the very best, and we
are confident they will ensure the smooth conduct of matches.”
Wilson, 54, is currently the only West Indian on the 11-member ICC elite panel of
umpires, arguably the best umpires in the sport from around the world, and he
has officiated in 36 Tests, 101 One-day Internationals and 42 Twenty20
Internationals.
Fellow West Indian umpires, Gregory Brathwaite, Nigel Duguid, Leslie Reifer Jr
and Patrick Gustard, all members of the second tier ICC panel of internationals
umpires, were overlooked.
Former West Indies captain, Sir Richie Richardson, a member of the ICC elite
panel of match referees, will also not be part of the tournament.
Wilson is carded to be part of the officiating team in 17 matches during the

tournament, comprising seven warm-up matches, two qualifying matches and
eight group matches.
Of those, he will be on the field for three warm-ups, one qualifier and four group
matches; he will be the video umpire in two warm-ups and three group matches,
and he will be the fourth umpire in two warm-ups, one qualifier and one group
match.
The umpires – all 11 elite umpires and five international umpires – and match
referees finalised for the 45-match tournament also include three umpires who
will be officiating in their sixth T20 World Cups – Pakistani Aleem Dar, Marais
Erasmus of South Africa and Australian Rod Tucker.
Dar and Erasmus have been selected for the opening group match for West
Indies against England, a rematch of the last T20 World Cup final back five years
ago, with former Australia batsman David Boon the match referee for that
encounter and New Zealander Chris Brown, appearing in his first T20 World Cup,
on TV duty.
Officials have been named for all matches in the qualifying round and group
stage, with the selections for the semi-finals and final of the tournament to be
named in due course.
Match Officials at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021
Match Referees: David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Javagal Srinath
Umpires: Chris Brown, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris
Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard
Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Rod
Tucker, Joel Wilson, Paul Wilson.