The International Cricket Council has announced the 20 match officials for the first round and Super 12s stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Joel Wilson, the experienced umpire, is the lone West Indian official named to stand in the tournament.
The 55-year-old has been an international umpire for over a decade since doing his first One-Day International between West Indies and India in June 2011. So far he has stood in 31 Tests; 84 ODIs and 39 T20Is.
His first match in the upcoming T20 World Cup will be the qualifier between Sri Lanka and Namibia in Geelong. He will also stand in the highly anticipated clash between Australia and England at the MCG on October 29..
In total, 16 umpires will officiate across the tournament with Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Kumara Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus having been the umpires in charge of 2021 final which saw this year’s hosts claim their first ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title.
It is an experienced group of umpires, with the same 16 selected as last year’s tournament which was held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Chief Referee of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, Ranjan Madugalle, is part of a quartet of former international cricketers who make up the match referees for the eighth edition of the T20 World Cup. Sri Lankan Madugalle is joined by Andy Pycroft of Zimbabwe, England’s Chris Broad and Australian David Boon.
Pycroft will take charge of the tournament opener in Geelong on 16 October when Sri Lanka takes on Namibia in the First round with Joel Wilson and Rodney Tucker the umpires in the middle. Paul Reiffel will act as the TV umpire with Erasmus, occupying the role of the fourth umpire.
Erasmus, Tucker and Aleem Dar are all set to appear in their seventh ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with Langton Rusere umpiring in his second World Cup of the year having stood in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, including acting as reserve umpire for the final.
Rusere will be the television umpire in place when Australia and New Zealand kick off the Super 12 round on 22 October in Sydney. The match is a replay of 2021 final and Rusere will be joined by Adrian Holdstock and Dharmasena (on-field) and Richard Illingworth (fourth umpire).
Officials have been named for the entirety of the First Round and Super 12s, with the selections for the semi-finals and final of the tournament to be named in due course.
Adrian Griffith, ICC Senior Manager – Umpires and Referees said:
“We are delighted to announce the match officials who will be officiating at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. This group are the very best from around the world and whilst it is a very challenging job with the eyes of the cricketing community focused on every decision, we know they will do an outstanding job and wish them the very best of luck.”
Match Officials
Match Referees: Andy Pycroft, Chris Broad, David Boon, Ranjan Madugalle
Umpires: Adrian Holdstock, Aleem Dar, Ahsan Raza, Christopher Brown, Christopher Gaffaney, Joel Wilson, Kumara Dharmasena, Langton Rusere, Marais Erasmus, Michael Gough, Nitin Menon, Paul Reiffel, Paul Wilson, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Rodney Tucker