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| Sunday, 8 February 2004 |
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Asoka de Silva and 2 others out of Emirates Elite Panel of cricket umpires Aleem Dar, 35, from Pakistan and Neil Mallender, 42, from England, will join the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires in April following the annual performance reviews of all umpires the ICC announced today. At the same time, three umpires, Asoka de Silva, David Orchard and Russel Tiffin have not been offered new ICC contracts and are expected to move back to the Emirates International Panel of Umpires and umpire primarily at the domestic level. Both Dar and Mallender were delighted at their promotions. "I'm very pleased to be given this opportunity. Making this panel was my aim and having made it to this level I will now be aiming to do my best," said Mr. Dar. "I was quite shocked when I was told. To umpire at this level was my aim but it has come around sooner than I expected it would," said Mr. Mallender. ICC Chief Executive, Malcolm Speed, said that the changes to the Emirates Elite Panel reflected the strong depth in the umpiring ranks around the world. "Over the past two years we have seen a strong group of new umpires emerge with Billy Bowden and Simon Taufel coming through last year and now Aleem Dar and Neil Mallender have also demonstrated that they are ready to take the next step in their careers," said Mr. Speed. "For the ICC this increase in umpiring depth is a welcome development as it means that we are able to make selections for the Emirates Elite Panel from an increasingly large pool of capable umpires. "Unfortunately at the individual level it does mean that some umpires will miss out and this is the case this year for umpires De Silva, Orchard and Tiffin who have not bee offered new contracts following the performance reviews. I would expect that these umpires will return to the secondary Emirates International Panel of Umpires in their countries and push for a return to the Elite Panel over the coming months." Both Dar and Mallender have played first class cricket with Mallender also representing England in two Tests in 1992. Both men will graduate from the Emirates International Panel of Umpires where they have gained both Test and ODI experience. The ICC assesses umpires' performances over the year through: * A detailed video analysis system that identifies and assesses every decision made by an umpire during the course of a match with the performance feedback provided on a regular basis to all umpires; * Written assessments provided by the captains of each team at the conclusion of a match; and * Written assessments provided by match referees at the conclusion of a match. Decisions on awarding contracts to the Emirates Elite Panel are made by Mr. Speed and the Chairman of the ICC's Cricket Committee - Playing, Sunil Gavaskar, on the basis of recommendations from the ICC Management. Along with the retirement of umpire, Venkat, these changes mean that the Emirates Elite Panel will reduce in size from 11 to nine umpires. Mr. Speed said that this will provide the opportunity for better performing umpires on the Emirates International Panel of Umpires to stand in some international matches over the course of the year. "An Elite Panel of nine umpires for the coming twelve months will allow the ICC to manage the upcoming workload for the Elite Panel while also providing opportunities for the umpires at the next level down to gain experience at the international level and for the ICC to assess them with a view to future appointments," he said. The Full Emirates Elite Panel for the coming year is: 1. Brent "Billy" Bowden, 2. Steve Bucknor, 3. Aleem Dar, 4. Darrell Hair, 5. Daryl Harper, 6. Rudi Koertzen, 7. Neil Mallender, 8. David Sheperd, 9. Simon Taufel. The final Test matches under the current contract for the Umpires Russel Tiffin: First Test New Zealand v South Africa, Hamilton 10 March, 2004; David Orchard: Third Test Sri Lanka v Australia, Colombo, 24 March, 2004; Asoka de Silva, Third Test New Zealand v South Africa, Wellington, 26 March 2004. |
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