Siphakeme .Mnindwa
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FORMER Zimbabwe cricketer, Andrew Pycroft, has been selected as match referee at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Champions Trophy to be co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
The tournament will be held from February 19 to March 9, and Pycroft will serve alongside David Boon and Ranjan Madugalle.
Pycroft, born on June 6, 1956, had a distinguished cricketing career, playing three Tests and 20 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1992.
He was a competitive batsman who retired early to focus on his family. Pycroft also captained the national team and later managed the Zimbabwe Under-19 team, becoming a national selector and coach.
After resigning as coach during the 2003 World Cup finals, Pycroft has continued to contribute to the sport as a match referee.
He joins a team of 12 umpires selected for the Champions Trophy, including Richard Kettleborough, Chris Gaffaney, Kumar Dharmasena, Richard Illingworth, Paul Reiffel and Rod Tucker, all members of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires.
Sean Easey, ICC Senior Manager – Umpires and Referees, expressed his confidence in the selected officials.“We are pleased to announce our panel of match officials for the upcoming Men’s Champions Trophy. This is a credentialled officiating team whose expertise will be valuable in this high-profile tournament,” said Easey.
“We always try to name the most suitable and deserving officials for any event, and we are confident this group will do a fine job across the matches in Pakistan and the UAE. I wish them all the best and hope they have a memorable tournament.”
Umpires
Kumar Dharmasena, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, Rodney Tucker, Alex Wharf, Joel Wilson.
Match Referees
David Boon, Ranjan Madugalle, Andrew Pycroft.
— Sports Reporter/icc-cricket.com
Online Reporter