ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Revealed: Who Will Be The Match Officials In The Opening Match?

ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is set to begin on 5th October. The opening match will be played between the finalists of the 2019 World Cup England and New Zealand. The group-stage clash between these two teams will be a repeat of the unforgettable final that was played four years ago where England emerged victorious on the boundary count rule after the Super Over was tied between the two teams.

The match will see Kumar Dharmasena and Nitin Menon as stand-in umpires, they will be joined by TV Umpire Paul Wilson and fourth umpire Shahid Saikat and the match referee will be Javagal Srinath.

Kumar Dharmasena achieved a historical feat when he became the first person to both play and umpire in a 50-over World Cup Final while Nitin Menon will be standing for the first time in an ICC Cricket World Cup match. Shahid Saikat will become the first umpire from Bangladesh to umpire in this competition.

All of them are included in the 20-member team announced by the ICC to officiate these matches. The team comprises 16 umpires and four match referees. 12 out of these 16 umpires are from the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires. Six umpires out of these 16 are stepping up for the first time in the ICC Cricket World Cup. Out of these 16 umpires 14 have officiated in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 with only Shahid Saikat and Alex Wharf missing out on the T20 World Cup.

At the age of 39, Nitin Menon is the youngest umpire in the tournament and is joined by Shahid Saikat, Ahsan Raza, Adrian Holdstock, Alex Wharf, and Chris Brown in making their ICC Cricket World Cup debut.

Match Officials for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023:

Umpires: Chris Brown (New Zealand), Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka), Marais Erasmus (South Africa), Christopher Gaffaney (New Zealand), Michael Gough (England), Adrian Holdstock (South Africa), Richard Illingworth (England), Richard Kettleborough (England), Nitin Menon (India), Ahsan Raza (Pakistan), Paul Reiffel (Australia), Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (Bangladesh), Rodney Tucker (Australia), Alex Wharf (England), Joel Wilson (West Indies) and Paul Wilson (Australia).

Match Referees: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand), Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe), Richie Richardson (West Indies) and Javagal Srinath (India).