The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced its list of match officials who will officiate during the league of the ODI World Cup 2023. The apex governing body is yet to name the officials for the semi-finals and finals and those will be announced in days to come.
The list includes 16 umpires, four match referees and 12 out of the 16 picked are a part of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires. The 12 match officials that belong to the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires are - 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), Ahsan Raza (Pakistan), Adrian Holdstock (South Africa), and Joel Wilson (West Indies).
The other four include Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (Bangladesh), Paul Wilson (Australia), Alex Wharf (England) and Chris Brown (New Zealand) who belong to the ICC Emerging Umpire Panel.
Three umpires who officiated in the 2019 ODI World Cup are also a part of the upcoming edition - Kumar Dharmasena, Rod Tucker and Marais Erasmus. Meanwhile, the list of ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees includes four names - Jeff Crowe (New Zealand), Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe), Richie Richardson (West Indies) and Javagal Srinath (India).
The marquee tournament will begin with a repeat of the final of the 2019 World Cup. Defending champions England will take on the runner-ups of the previous edition New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5.
The on-field umpires for that game will be Nitin Menon and Kumar Dharmasena. Paul Wilson will be the third umpire and Sharfuddoula will be the fourth umpire. Pycroft of Zimbabwe will be the match referee for the contest.
