Neutral Umpires To Return In Test Cricket As Countries Ease Travel Restrictions

Neutral umpires will get back to duty in Test cricket, as nations have begun to loosen up the movement limitations that were forced with the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. On Sunday, the ICC endorsed the proposal of its Cricket Committee to “use” more neutral umpires in International cricket, yet additionally chose to have home umpires officiate in both ODIs and T20Is.

As needs are, for the 2022-23 time frame, the ICC has concluded that three of the five-match officials in Test cricket will be neutral: the on-field umpire, match referee, and the third umpire. The other two match authorities – the second on-field umpire and the fourth umpire – will be of the home country.

Before the pandemic, both the on-field umpires, the match referee as well as the third umpire were neutral. However, since June 2020, confronted with the strategic difficulties presented by the pandemic, the ICC had chosen to have home nation officials in bilateral series.

Home Umpires’ Performance Strong And Encouraging

Last year, the ICC Cricket Committee had advised that structure to be held which was endorsed by the global body’s CEOs panel as well as the board. On Sunday, the ICC, in a press release, expressed that the home umpires’ performance was “strong” and encouraging.

“The CEC was updated on the utilization of home umpires from July 2020 to February 2022 because of Covid-19,” the ICC said. “The board recognized that the performance of home umpires was solid and had not impacted games. The utilization of home umpires had additionally prompted 12 individuals from the worldwide board of umpires to make their Test match debut.

The success of the home umpires in the course of the most recent two years has given the ICC the certainty to have no neutral presence in limited-overs cricket. Going ahead, all the five-match officials, including the match referee, will be non-neutral in bilateral ODIs and T20Is. Prior to the pandemic guidelines, in ODIs, one of the on-field umpires alongside the third umpire and the match official was impartial. There were two home officials: one on-field umpire and the fourth umpire. In T20 cricket, before the pandemic, just the match referee was an unbiased authority, who currently will be from the home board.

Mahela Jayawardene Reappointed As Past Player’s Representative

Meanwhile, the Cricket Committee reappointed Mahela Jayawardene as the past player’s representative and also appointed Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, as the committee’s Full Member representative, taking over from David White. The key decisions were taken at the ICC Board Meeting held in Dubai.